UNIVERSITY  of  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 
LIBRARY 


HOW   TO    KEEP   HENS 
FOR   PROFIT 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  •    BOSTON  •   CHICAGO 
SAN   FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LIMITED 

LONDON  •    BOMBAY  •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  LTD. 


HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS 
FOR  PROFIT 


BY 
C.  S.  VALENTINE 


WITH  FRONTISPIECE 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 
1913 

All  rights  reserved 


COPYRIGHT,  1910, 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 

Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  April,  1910.     Reprinted 
January,  1911 ;  January,  1912  ;  March,  1913. 


Nortoooft  fttrtB 

J.  8.  Cashing  Co.  —  Berwick  A  Smith  Co. 
Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


\  2J5  Vv 


PREFACE 

A  CONSIDERABLE  portion  of  the  material  here  pre- 
sented was  first  published  in  the  columns  of  the  New 
York  Tribune  Farmer.  Permission  has  been  kindly 
granted  the  author  to  use  this  material  in  book  form, 
and  to  it  has  been  added  about  one-third  new  matter 
to  round  out  the  subject  under  discussion  and  bring 
it  down  to  date.  It  is  hoped  that  this  first  presenta- 
tion of  the  American  class  of  fowls  as  a  group  merit- 
ing an  entire  book  to  itself  may  find  favor  with  the 
many  who  know  the  real  "  American  "  hen,  and  the 
more  who  ought  to  know  her. 


CONTENTS 

PAGB 

THE  NATION  AND  THE  POULTRY  INDUSTRY  i 

1>,  THE  PLYMOUTH  ROCK,  THE  JAVA,  AND  THE  DOMINIQUE  10 

THE  WYANDOTTE 23 

THE  RHODE  ISLAND  RED  AND  THE  BUCKEYE         .        .  36 

CHIEF  COMPETITORS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  HEN         .        .  52 

THE   FlVE-DOLLAR-A-YEAR   HEN          .....  60 

IMPROVING  THE  AMERICAN  HEN 68 

QUALITY  AND  NUMBERS  AT  THE  SHOWS  ...  79 
THE  AMERICAN  FARMER,  THE  AMERICAN  HEN,  AND  THE 

FANCY 86 

THE  AMERICAN  HEN  AND  AMERICAN  MONEY  .  .  110 
MAKING  A  HIGHLY  PROFITABLE  WORKER  .  .  .124 

EGGS  OF  THE  AMERICAN  BREEDS 141 

AVERAGE  LAYERS  AND  THREE-HUNDRED-EGG  HENS  .  155 
EGG  FOODS:  CAN  THEY  INSURE  us  A  TWO-HUNDRED- 

AND-FIFTY-EGG  HEN? 1 67 

MOTHER  AND  CHICKS .180 

HANDLING  THE  CHICKS 188 

MODERN  WAYS  OF  HOUSING 211 

EXPENSIVE  ACCIDENTS 238 

COMMON-SENSE  HANDLING  OF  COMMON  DISEASES  .  .  249 

THE  INDIAN  RUNNER  DUCK 280 

INDEX 293 

vii 


How    To    Keep    Hens 
For    Profit 


THE  NATION  AND  THE  POULTRY 
INDUSTRY 


THE  advance  sheets  of  the  United  States  Govern- 
ment report  for  1909  are  enough  to  stir  the  blood  of 
any  patriot.  "But  this  is  prosaic,"  you  say?  "this  is 
far  from  being  patriotic."  May  we  differ?  The  pa- 
triot is  not  only  one  who  has  sentiment  for  his  country, 
but  who  "supports  its  authority  and  its  interests."  I 
submit  that  the  greatest  patriot  of  all  is  the  farmer;  for 
it  is  he,  year  by  year,  who  most  consistently  supports 
the  interests  of  the  country  —  nay,  who  saves  its  very 
life,  individual  and  collective. 

One  of  the  first  affirmations  of  the  advance  sheets 
above  noted  is  that  the  value  of  the  farm  products  is 
now  so  almost  incredibly  great  that  it  "has  become 
merely  a  row  of  figures."  The  gain  in  values,  over 
last  year,  is  eight  hundred  and  sixty-nine  millions  of 
dollars;  while,  so  short  a  time  as  ten  years  ago,  the 
entire  production  was  only  five  and  one-half  times  this 
present  gain.  With  such  strides  are  we  advancing  ! 


2    HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

To-day,  in  Washington,  lives  a  man,  interested  in 
poultry  raising  from  many  points  of  view,  who  likes  to 
tell  how  he  once  had  to  labor  with  the  heads  of  Depart- 
ments in  Washington  to  get  any  recognition  of  the 
high  place  which  poultry  was  even  then  taking  among 
the  products  of  this  country.  Up  to  that  time  poultry 
had  been  largely  ignored. 

The  commanding  place  which  poultry  has  now  taken 
by  right  of  seizure  is  being  universally  admitted.  The 
Government  devotes  both  money  and  men  to  its  in- 
terests, and  gives  it  prominent  space  and  appreciative 
notice  in  the  annual  reports.  It  emphasizes  the  fact 
that  the  poultry  crop  is  now  equal  to  the  hay,  the 
wheat,  or  the  cotton  crop,  only  corn  having  greater  value 
than  these.  It  published  between  1896  and  1907  no 
less  than  eleven  new,  special  bulletins  having  to  do 
with  poultry,  besides  modernizing  some  others,  and  has 
devoted  more  than  fifty  pages  to  poultry,  in  a  single 
year's  report.  It  has  established  an  experimental 
poultry  plant  of '  its  own  near  the  capital.  It  has  con- 
ducted investigations  in  poultry  diseases  and  in  cold 
storage  of  poultry  and  poultry  products. 

During  this  latter  investigation  it  placed  an  observer 
in  one  of  the ,  commercial  cold-storage  plants  in  one 
of  the  largest  cities.  This  worker,  finding  that  the 
very  important  instruments  for  the  determination  and 
regulation  of  the  moisture  content  of  the  atmosphere 


THE   NATION   AND   POULTRY   INDUSTRY    3 

then  available  were  not  giving  satisfactory  service, 
devised  one  which  met  the  need  more  thoroughly. 
The  Government  applied  for  a  patent  on  this  device, 
in  order  that  any  one  in  the  United  States  might  use  it 
free  of  royalty.  It  has  also  made  a  study  of  mar- 
kets and  transportation  as  affecting  poultry  products, 
especially  eggs  for  fnarket.  In  all  this  the  Government 
is  but  conserving  its  own  strength,  since  this  depends 
on  the  welfare  of  the  farmers,  the  great  supporters  of 
the  poultry  industry. 

The  United  States  Government  gives  also  a  notable 
portion  of  its  efforts  to  the  preservation  of  the  wild 
bird  life  within  its  jurisdiction.  Game,  strictly  speak- 
ing, does  not  come  within  the  limits  of  the  present 
study.  But  we  may  take  a  little  time  to  look  at  the 
present  conditions  of  game  supply  and  game  protec- 
tion, because  the  supply  of  game  affects,  to  some  de- 
gree, the  poultry  market.  And,  through  the  recent  ex- 
tension of  the  culture  of  a  duck  which  is  decidedly 
"gamy"  as  to  meat,  game  supply  becomes  a  question 
of  interest  to  many  farmers.  This  is  especially  the  case 
because  this  is  the  best  layer  ever  known  among  domes- 
tic ducks,  it  having  just  been  reported  as  making  a 
phenomenal  average  record,  in  an  officially  handled 
competition,  and  an  actual  individual  record  therein 
of  three  hundred  and  twenty  eggs. 

The  price  of  game  has  been  so  high  that  the  fact 


4          HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

of  restaurant  portions  being  billed  on  the  menus  in 
terms  of  dollars  instead  of  cents  has  excited  little 
comment.  The  average  wholesale  price  of  dressed 
poultry  in  New  York  City  was  a  trifle  over  fifteen  and 
one-half  cents  a  pound,  in  1908.  But  the  guinea-fowl, 
which  may  almost  be  classed  as  half  wild,  though  in 
domestication,  has  crept  into  the  opening  made  by  the 
scarcity  of  game,  and  thus  advanced  in  price  in  unusual 
ratio.  A  prominent  commission  house  wrote  me,  some 
months  ago,  that  guinea  broilers,  especially,  were  in  firm 
demand  at  a  very  good  price. 

The  failure  of  the  available  game  to  supply  the  de- 
mand for  game  has  drawn  the  attention  of  the  Gov- 
ernment to  its  protection,  preservation,  and  increase. 
The  number  of  hunters  annually  in  the  open  is  now 
estimated  at  above  three  millions.  The  capture  of  birds 
for  millinery  purposes  is  under  some  control;  but  civi- 
lization is  constantly  encroaching  on  the  breeding  haunts 
of  the  birds.  Among  quail  in  covers  a  disease  has 
appeared,  which  discouraged  increase  of  this  interest. 

As  far  back  as  1905,  thirty-six  states  had  state  officers 
for  the  protection  of  game,  and  non-resident  hunting 
licenses  were  required  in  all,  while  about  half  required 
resident  hunters  also  to  be  licensed.  There  has  been 
so  much  hunting  in  this  country  by  non-resident  for- 
eigners, that  North  Carolina  alone,  in  one  year,  received 
ten  thousand  dollars  for  such  licensing.  In  other  locali- 


THE   NATION   AND   POULTRY   INDUSTRY    5 

ties,  in  one  case,  four  hunters  were  fined  one  hundred 
and  forty  dollars  for  killing  six  meadow-larks;  a  fine 
of  four  hundred  dollars  was  enforced  for  shipping  two 
hundred  prairie  chickens  and  other  birds.  In  still 
another  case,  two  hundred  dollars  and  costs  were  im- 
posed for  shipping  twenty  quail.  For  possession  and 
sale  of  quail  and  grouse  in  the  close  season,  New  York 
has  exacted  several  fines  ranging  from  three  hundred 
dollars  to  six  hundred  dollars  each. 

Near  the  middle  of  the  decade  following  1900,  came 
one  or  two  winters  of  extreme  severity,  when  quail 
suffered  intensely.  So  many  died  that  some  states  were 
driven  to  restocking.  Massachusetts  could  not  get  birds 
at  first;  New  Jersey  fared  better,  and  liberated  more 
than  eight  thousand.  The  suffering  and  loss  during 
these  two  very  cold  winters  caused  a  systematic  effort 
to  have  game  birds  fed.  In  one  state  the  state  zoolo- 
gist sent  out  thirty  thousand  requests  to  farmers  to  feed 
the  birds.  In  Massachusetts  the  Protective  Association 
distributed  cards,  urging  people  to  feed  quail,  furnish- 
ing feed  free  of  charge,  with  instructions  how  to  place  it 
so  that  it  would  do  the  most  good.  In  Illinois  the  sum 
of  three  thousand  three  hundred  dollars  was  spent  for 
feeding  game  birds  during  the  severe  months.  Besides 
the  efforts  toward  preservation,  importations  have  been 
made  of  quail,  partridges,  and  grouse,  from  Mexico  and 
Europe. 


6          HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

In  1905  the  President  of  the  United  States  was 
authorized  to  set  aside,  at  his  will,  portions  of  the 
Wichita  Forest  Reserve,  in  Oklahoma,  as  a  game  sanc- 
tuary. In  June  of  that  year  he  designated  fifty-seven 
thousand  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  as  a  preserve, 
this  being  especially  adapted  to  the  propagation  of  wild 
turkeys  and  quail,  as  well  as  of  some  larger  game. 

Illinois  leased  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  for  ten 
years  for  the  special  propagation  of  pheasants,  quail, 
and  grouse.  In  Pennsylvania  the  Board  of  Game 
Commissioners  was  authorized  to  establish  public  pre- 
serves in  the  State  Forest  Reservations,  for  the  increase 
of  wild  turkey,  partridge,  quail,  and  woodcock,  as  well 
as  wild  pigeons.  In  Maine  the  Audubon  societies 
have  leased  one  island,  said  to  be  the  only  known  breed- 
ing place  of  the  eider  duck  in  this  country. 

Within  the  year  immediately  following  August,  1907, 
the  President  set  aside  nine  new  bird  reservations,  and 
during  1909,  the  increase  in  the  number  of  such  reser- 
vations was  from  sixteen  to  fifty-one,  all  on  land  of 
little  or  no  agricultural  value.  Two  are  on  marsh  land ; 
while  one  embraces  several  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands, 
and  United  States  artificial  reclamation  lakes  form 
others.  The  Government  is  also  stocking  ponds  and 
waterways  with  wild  rice,  wild  celery,  and  other  favor- 
ite foods  for  the  water  fowl.  In  this  way  it  is  hoped 
to  increase  the  number  of  wild  ducks  and  geese.  For 


THE   NATION  AND   POULTRY   INDUSTRY     7 

propagation,  as  well  as  preservation,  nearly  thirty  thou- 
sand gray  partridges  and  twelve  hundred  pheasants 
were  imported  for  liberation  in  the  United  States,  and 
over  five  thousand  eggs  of  pheasants,  partridges,  and 
wild  ducks  have  been  imported,  all  during  1909. 

The  Government  officials  believe  that  each  year 
brings  a  better  understanding  of  the  need  for  game  pro- 
tection. It  is  still  true,  according  to  my  own  observa- 
tion, chat  farmers  look  upon  hunting  and  fishing  for 
needed  food  as  a  hereditary  right  belonging  to  the  land 
and  the  owners  thereof,  despite  forbidding  game  laws. 
They  regard  huntsmen  from  cities  and  clubs,  in  the 
mass  —  especially  if  mounted  —  as  being  quite  as 
predatory  as  were  the  bands  of  cattle  thieves  which 
overran  the  Scottish  borders  in  the  older  days.  They 
find  it  difficult  to  believe  that  the  pheasant  which  de- 
stroys their  crops  with  yearly  increasing  impudence 
ought  to  be  protected;  but  they  are  awakening  to  the 
fact  that  the  non-game  birds  are  their  neglected  friends 
—  and  ought  to  be  their  intimates  —  and  are  taking  a 
live  interest  in  their  preservation. 

All  food  meats  are  bound  together  in  a  community 
of  interest,  in  that  the  failure  of  any  important  one,  or  of 
several  not  so  important,  may  have  a  strong  bearing  on 
the  future  of  any  others  which  might  take  the  places 
of  these  former  supplies.  Investigations  in  fifty  cities 
have  shown  that  retail  prices  on  meats  have  a  varying 


8          HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

range  of  gross  profits  from  17  per  cent  up  to  68  per 
cent  above  wholesale  prices.  The  south  central  group  of 
states  shows  a  mean  profit  of  54  per  cent  above  whole- 
sale prices.  I  think  there  has  never  been  known  such 
a  profit  on  eggs.  But  so  long  as  conditions  combine  to 
permit  such  profit  on  cattle  meats,  the  prices  of  eggs 
will  go  up  in  sympathy,  for  many  more  eggs  will  be 
used  when  meats  are  high  in  price  than  when  they  are 
low.  High  prices  for  feed  also  push  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. The  per  capita  consumption  of  meat  for  all  the 
people  of  the  country,  the  very  young  as  well  as  the 
adults,  was,  for  1900,  182.6  pounds.  This  demands 
billions  of  pounds  for  supply. 

"The  price  of  corn  has  been  too  high  for  the  price  of 
pork,"  says  the  statistician.  That  the  same  is  true  of 
corn  as  compared  with  eggs,  in  price,  is  the  testimony 
of  every  poultry  raiser.  But  eggs  in  1908  have 
averaged  more  than  twice  as  high  as  the  average  of  the 
four  years  preceding  the  census  of  1900.  Farm  prod- 
ucts as  a  whole  averaged  but  26  per  cent  higher,  so 
that  eggs  are  decidedly  in  the  lead  as  a  source  of  income 
for  those  who  can  produce  them  judiciously.  The 
decline  in  the  supply  of  beef  and  other  animals  means 
the  further  advance  in  prices  of  eggs  and  poultry,  unless 
it  were  possible  that  the  systematic  efforts  to  conserve 
and  increase  the  supply  of  game  should  be  —  shall  I  say 
unduly  ?  —  successful.  Should  these  be  so  widely  sue- 


THE  NATION  AND  POULTRY  INDUSTRY  9 

cessful  as  to  increase  the  supply  of  game  meats  suffi- 
ciently to  affect  the  general  meat  market,  we  might 
wonder  what  would  be  the  outcome.  But  I  think  no  one 
would  consider  this  possibility  seriously  at  the  present 
time. 

There  is  still  another  important  point  of  view :  only 
such  products  as  can  be  gained  through  domestication 
of  any  subject  lend  themselves  easily  to  extreme  aggre- 
gations of  commercial  values.  Admitting  that  their 
quality  suits  the  market,  the  Guinea-fowl  and  the 
Indian  Runner  Duck  are  more  desirable  producers  of 
"game"  meat  than  are  the  wild  fowl.  This  principle 
the  race  has  virtually  admitted,  ever  since  it  began  to 
domesticate  the  wild  animals  and  the  wild  fowls.  It  is 
this  which  paved  the  way  for  the  present  well-nigh  mar- 
vellous performances  of  the  American  Hen.  It  is  this 
which  may  lead  to  unheard-of  successes  in  some  of  her 
near  of  kin,  such  as  the  Guinea-fowl  and  the  Indian 
Runner  Duck. 


THE   PLYMOUTH    ROCK,    THE    JAVA,   AND 
THE    DOMINIQUE 

Wide  Distribution  of  the  Rock  —  The  Egg  Type  —  Large  Claims 
and  a  Poor  Showing  —  A  Find  —  Handicaps  for  One-color 
Sorts  —  Troubles  of  the  Buffs  — Care  in  Feeding  —  Muscu- 
lar Development — The  Java-Dominique  Rock  —  The  Good 
Old  Java  —  Why  does  not  the  Dominique  Score  ? 

IT  is  now  about  twenty-five  years  since  the  then  best- 
informed  man  in  the  country,  probably,  on  this  sub- 
ject made  a  crucial  assertion,  and  one  that  showed 
his  Yankee  extraction.  He  said  that  the  Plymouth 
Rocks  and  the  Wyandottes  were  two  of  the  four  best- 
paying  breeds  known  to  him,  from  the  practical  side. 
Even  at  this  early  day  the  American  breeds  were  prov- 
ing their  right  to  have  been  created  for  Americans: 
they  paid  !  This  speaker  referred  to  the  Barred  Plym- 
outh Rock  and  the  Silver  Wyandotte,  as  we  now  have 
to  term  them  because  of  the  several  varieties  which 
each  breed  now  boasts. 

The  "cuckoo"  plumage  of  the  Barred  Rock  has  al- 
ways been  widely  liked,  and  the  fact  that  the  birds  do 
well  in  average  hands  has  made  them  favorites  on  the 


PLYMOUTH  ROCK,  JAVA,  AND  DOMINIQUE     n 

farms,  where  everything  else  often  has  to  give  way  to 
the  exigencies  of  growing  and  gathering  the  grain 
crops. 

It  is  one  thing  to  read  in  some  irresponsible  print 
that  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  for  the  farmer  lie, 
embryonic,  in  the  poultry  industry.  It  is  quite  another 
thing  to  have  the  Government  officials  of  this  great 
country  stand  sponsors  to  such  broad  statements  as  have 
been  noted  in  the  previous  chapter.  And  if  any  one 
breed  of  fowls  might  claim  the  palm  of  being  the 
largest  influence  in  forcing  such  an  official  admission, 
the  Plymouth  Rock,  especially  in  the  Barred  variety, 
may  lay  a  reasonable  claim  to  being  that  one. 

The  Barred  Plymouth  Rock,  the  kind  that  used  to 
stand  for  the  name  "Plymouth  Rock,"  years  before 
there  was  any  other  variety,  is  probably  the  best-known 
bird  in  this  country.  It  is  also  claimed  that  it  is  the 
most  widely  raised.  Perhaps  the  one  proves  the  other. 
But  I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  this  particular 
marking  is  very  persistent,  and  that  it  comes  out  in  birds 
with  only  a  fraction  of  the  Plymouth  Rock  blood,  so 
that  much  of  the  claim  for  the  Rock's  wide  distribu- 
tion on  the  farms  embraces  birds  that  may  best  be 
named  mongrels,  with  more  or  less  of  Barred  Rock 
blood.  The  fact  that  color  foreign  to  the  true  Barred 
Rock  Standard  requirement  is  so  prevalent  in  these  farm 
birds  is  perhaps  sufficient  proof  of  the  above  state- 


12        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

ment.  "  Dirty-looking  birds,"  in  the  thought  that  their 
color  is  not  clear,  the  great  majority  of  them  are  pretty 
sure  to  be. 

The  true,  highest-class,  show-room  Barred  Rock  is  a 
bird  for  breeders  to  go  into  raptures  over,  especially 
those  who  know  how  very  difficult  it  is  to  produce.  But 
it  is  probably  wholly  true  that  no  novice  can  hope  to  go 
into  the  open  market  and  buy  stock  that  will  give  him 
birds  of  the  highest  class,  unless  he  stumble  into  the 
hands  of  a  good  breeder,  who  will  coach  him  on  the 
manner  of  handling  the  double-mating  system,  and 
who  will  sell  him  the  right  matings  to  start  with. 

The  ordinary  buyer,  ignorant  of  the  ways  in  which 
strains  are  produced,  and  of  the  double-mating  used 
to  produce  winning  Barred  Rocks  in  many  instances, 
could  do  no  worse  than  to  buy  from  one  of  these  estab- 
lished strains,  unless  he  put  himself  into  the  hands  of 
their  breeder  for  instruction,  and  for  new  birds  when 
he  needed  them.  If  he  first  got  birds  from  double- 
mating,  he  must  know  exactly  how  to  handle  them. 
Should  he  mate  them  with  outside  blood,  he  would  get 
a  hodge-podge,  probably  all  culls,  from  the  big  exhib- 
itor's point  of  view.  It  is  never  safe  to  breed  Barred 
Rocks  without  knowing  what  is  back  of  them  in  blood 
and  handling,  and  the  new  breeder  has  so  much  to  learn 
that  it  may  well  make  him  dizzy  to  contemplate  it.  If 
he  likes  hard  knots,  he  will  have  fun;  if  he  isn't  fond  of 


PLYMOUTH  ROCK,  JAVA,  AND  DOMINIQUE     13 

puzzles,  it  will  be  anything  but  fun,  unless  he  has  a 
"coach,"  and  one  that  stands  by  him. 

It  often  seems  strange  to  me  that  the  Barred  Rock, 
an  American  breed,  and  best  known  among  farmers 
at  large  of  all  the  breeds,  should  be  so  little  known 
among  them  as  to  its  fancy  points.  I  am  not  sure  that 
it  is  a  very  good  breed,  however,  for  a  farmer  to  choose 
when  he  wants  to  breed  to  fancy  points,  because  it  is 
one  of  the  most  difficult  breeds  known  to  bring  to  per- 
fection, or  anywhere  near  that  desired  quality.  And 
when  it  comes  to  showing,  there  are  so  many  old  breed- 
ers who  raise  high  quality  Barred  Rocks  that  it  is  well- 
nigh  impossible  for  a  novice  to  win  anything  worth  while 
in  the  large  shows. 

Color  and  its  proper  distribution  count  for  well 
toward  half  the  value  of  an  exhibition  Barred  Rock. 
More  than  forty  points  out  of  the  one  hundred  that  mean 
absolute  perfection  are  allowed  for  color,  from  three 
to  six  points  being  counted  for  color  in  each  section 
at  the  present  time.  Indeed,  this  is  the  scale  given  for 
all  breeds  in  the  American  class,  which  includes  four 
varieties  of  Rocks,  eight  varieties  of  Wyandottes,  two 
of  Javas,  one  each  of  Dominiques  and  Buckeyes,  and 
two  of  Rhode  Island  Reds.  Shape  has  thirty-three 
points,  comb  eight,  symmetry  and  condition  twelve 
more.  Weight  counts  six  points,  and  the  specimen 
loses  on  each  half  pound  under  weight,  the  bird  nearest 


I4        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

Standard  weight  gaining  the  prize,  if  other  points  are 
equal.  The  Standard  weight  of  Rocks  runs  from  six 
and  a  half  pounds  in  pullets  to  nine  and  a  half  pounds 
for  mature  cocks.  Hens  are  one  pound  heavier  than 
pullets.  The  emphasis  which  breeders  put  on  head 
points  may  be  understood  if  we  know  that  the  head  of 
a  bird  in  the  American  class  counts  twenty  points,  in- 
cluding shape,  color,  comb,  wattles,  and  ear  lobes.  In 
the  Mediterranean  classes  it  counts  six  points  more; 
that  is,  more  than  one-fourth  the  value  of  the  bird.  At 
first  thought,  one  might  be  led  to  think  scornfully  of 
fancy  fowls  when  considering  this  requisite.  But  it  is 
also  true  that  the  head  is  a  very  good  index  to  the  prac- 
tical value  of  the  bird,  though  not  all  the  points  count 
in  this  grading. 

The  color  of  the  Barred  Rock  has  been  a  matter  of 
contention  and  misunderstanding  for  many  years. 
The  best  that  the  combined  judgment  of  breeders  can 
do  even  now  in  describing  it  is  to  call  it  a  modified  black 
and  white,  adding  a  limiting  clause  to  the  effect  that 
overlapping  of  feathers  and  reflection  of  light  cause  the 
feathers  to  show  a  bluish  tinge.  Some  still  contend,  I 
think,  that  the  color  should  be  described  as  in  shades  of 
blue  or  blue-black.  The  perfect  specimen  should  be 
barred  to  the  skin  and  be  even  in  surface  colors  through- 
out. 

In  exhibition  fowls,  generally,  the  fluff,  the  folding  of 


PLYMOUTH  ROCK,  JAVA,  AND  DOMINIQUE     15 

the  wings,  the  setting  of  the  legs,  the  curves  and  angles  of 
the  body,  the  texture  of  comb  and  wattles  and  lobes,  all 
form  a  part  of  the  symmetrical  whole  which  approaches 
perfection,  yet  never  quite  reaches  it. 

It  is  significant,  I  think,  that  the  American  Standard 
of  Perfection  gives  Barred  Plymouth  Rocks  first  place 
in  its  pages,  after  the  preliminaries.  The  birds  nearest 
to  Standard  weights  are  declared  to  be  not  only  most 
typical,  but  to  meet  the  utility  requirement  best,  as  well. 
The  three  varieties  are  asserted  to  be  identical,  save  as 
to  color.  The  color  nomenclature  of  the  Barred  Rock 
has  been  a  matter  of  fighting  of  the  kind  that  "draws 
blood,"  and  most  breeders  admit  that  it  is  a  color  one 
must  learn  to  know  by  studying  the  best  birds.  Neither 
"blue"  nor  "black"  used  alone  gives  the  right  idea  of 
this  "shifting  shade." 

The  show-room  Barred  Rock  is  not  the  "rock"  on 
which  the  country  stands,  however,  but  rather  that 
approach  toward  her  which  is  generally  known  by  the 
breed  name.  I  think  there  is  no  doubt  that  a  farm 
fowl  which  is  party-colored  is  in  many  senses  more 
desirable  than  a  fowl  having  one  plain  color,  especially 
if  that  one  color  is  light.  The  farm  breeds  poultry, 
first  of  all,  for  its  own  use,  and  it  wants  a  type  that  can 
be  raised  easily  in  large  numbers  and  that  does  not 
require  too  nice  attention.  This  is  speaking  broadly; 
of  course,  many  farmers  are  breeding  to  Standard,  and 


16        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

giving  close  attention  to  fine  points,  but  they  count  small 
beside  the  great  majority  who  want,  first  of  all,  a  utility 
fowl. 

I  once  heard  a  student  ask  an  expert  what  constituted 
the  egg  type  in  his  particular  breed.  The  answer  was : 
"The  bird  nearest  to  Standard  requirements."  And 
this  was  from  an  old  man  who  had  spent  a  lifetime  in 
breeding  fancy  fowls.  I  think  nearly  all  fanciers  would 
make  the  same  claim,  but  it  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be 
wholly  sustained  by  the  facts. 

The  Barred  Rock  people  are  making  the  most  ex- 
treme claims  for  their  favorites,  not  only  as  to  fancy 
points,  but  as  to  laying  capacity.  I  think  the  most 
extravagant  claim  of  all  is  now  made  for  a  Barred  Rock. 
That  this  variety  has  always  suited  farmers  admirably 
is  a  known  fact.  It  has  usually  given  them  winter  eggs 
where  they  could  not  get  them  from  other  breeds.  But 
has  it  given  them  enough?  Just  a  few  days  previous 
to  the  present  writing,  I  saw  the  claim  made  publicly 
that  the  Barred  Rocks  enjoy  the  distinction  of  being 
bred  by  a  greater  number  of  people  and  in  greater 
numbers  than  any  other  variety  of  domestic  fowls. 
Admitting  that  this  statement  is  true  in  a  somewhat 
modified  sense,  it  points  in  a  direction  toward  which,  it 
seems  to  me,  every  Rock  breeder  has  refrained  from 
looking.  //  it  be  true  that  more  persons  breed  Barred 
Rocks  than  breed  any  other  varieties  of  hens,  upon  the 


PLYMOUTH  ROCK,  JAVA,  AND  DOMINIQUE     17 

Barred  Rock  must  fall  most  heavily  the  odium  of  hav- 
ing produced,  in  average  hands,  —  so  says  the  record  — 
only  six  dozen  eggs  at  the  most,  as  an  average.  This 
statement  cannot  be  gotten  around.  If  most  of  our 
farm  birds  are  Rocks,  they  are  making  a  very  poor 
showing  for  the  breed  as  to  laying  capacity. 

The  White  variety  was  a  wonderful  "find"  for  this 
country;  this  we  may  freely  admit.  I  do  not  say  that 
she  is  so  much  better  than  her  Barred  sister,  except  in 
the  matter  of  dressing  off  for  market  better,  when  the 
pin-feathers  are  green.  But  she  is  a  beauty,  a  show- 
room fashionable  female,  and  she  is  a  grand  —  to  use 
a  favorite  term  among  breeders  —  a  "grand,  good  bird." 
It  is  freely  predicted,  even  among  those  whose  opinions 
are  not  biassed,  that  she  is  the  coming  fowl,  despite  the 
tremendous  and  increasing  competition  of  other  vari- 
eties. And  one  who  chooses  White  Rocks  will  make  no 
serious  error. 

For  the  average  worker,  any  buff  variety  is  more 
difficult  than  a  white  sort.  When  the  recent  discussion 
was  on  before  the  poultry-law-giving  body,  and  the 
question  of  comparative  handicaps  came  up,  each 
breeder  of  the  plain  colors  (the  ones  handicapped  when 
competing  for  points  with  the  more  difficult,  party- 
colored  varieties)  held  his  own  difficulties  up  for  sym- 
pathetic public  gaze.  "We  breeders  of  whites  have 
brassiness  and  black  flecking  to  fight  " ;  "we  breeders  of 


i8        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

blacks  must  struggle  against  white  and  against  purple 
barring";  "we  breeders  of  buffs  must  fight  against 
black  and  white,  and  mealiness";  so  their  stories  ran. 
Of  course,  they  were  all  true :  the  question  was  only, 
which  was  the  worst  to  fight.  Every  worker  must  find 
out  for  himself  by  trying  or  by  testimony.  Every 
variety  has  its  difficult  points. 

The  Buff  Rock  gives  the  same  color  troubles  that  all 
buff  breeds  insure.  She  is  a  valuable  bird,  and  has  a 
claim  of  having  laid  two  hundred  and  thirteen  eggs  in 
her  third-year  form.  The  best  layer  we  have  ever  had 
was  a  Buff  Rock,  a  bird  kept  over  from  her  first  year 
because,  and  only  because,  she  was  a  good  mother.  In 
her  second  year,  she  laid  twice  as  well  as  during  her 
first  year.  But  she  ran  alone  during  much  of  her  sec- 
ond laying  summer.  Any  good  hen  under  this  condi- 
tion, on  range,  is  likely  to  develop  "phenomenal" 
laying.  On  the  whole,  if  either  of  the  newer  Rocks 
crowds  aside  the  old  variety,  I  think  it  will  be  the  White 
Rock.  She  is  a  most  excellent  layer,  and  a  market  bird 
almost  beyond  criticism,  according  to  the  demands  of 
American  marketmen. 

In  dealing  with  birds  of  this  type,  one  needs  to  keep 
in  mind  that  they  fatten  easily,  and  that  the  fat  is  laid  on 
internally  as  well  as  externally.  Internal  fat,  if  exces- 
sive, may  crowd  the  organs  of  digestion  and  of  repro- 
duction, and  a  tendency  to  fat  is  quite  likely  to  affect 


PLYMOUTH  ROCK,  JAVA,  AND  DOMINIQUE     19 

the  liver  as  the  fowl  grows  older.  For  this  reason,  the 
fattening  ration  that  would  not  hurt  a  Leghorn,  might 
break  the  Rock  down  utterly.  The  condiment  that 
would  just  freely  stimulate  the  Mediterranean  type  of 
bird,  might  bring  on  digestive  difficulties,  or  inflamma- 
tions anywhere  along  the  egg  duct.  Any  who  may 
have  had  occasion  to  dissect  animals  will  know  how  fat 
tends  to  make  all  the  rest  of  the  carcass  tender.  Any 
one  who  cooks,  or  any  one  who  buys  meats  ought  to  see 
the  bearing  of  this.  Organs  which  are  tender  in  tex- 
ture must,  of  necessity,  yield  more  easily  to  strain  of 
any  sort.  Thus  an  extra  large  egg,  which  often  goes 
with  the  tendency  to  fat,  would  the  more  easily  rend  the 
walls  of  the  egg  duct,  and  pass  into  the  abdominal 
cavity,  there  to  make  fatal  difficulty.  This  condition 
is  so  often  found,  and  egglets  cooked  by  inflammation 
are  of  such  frequent  occurrence  in  hens,  that  it  behooves 
us  to  think  whither  these  things  point. 

There  is  not  much  need  to  be  afraid  of  fat  in  a  young 
hen,  especially  if  she  be  laying  freely.  But,  given  a 
breed  that  takes  on  fat  with  unusual  ease,  it  is  easy  for 
the  just-fat-enough  condition  that  makes  for  a  good  egg 
product  to  pass  into  the  too-fat  condition,  which  makes 
for  disease  and  disruption,  especially  after  the  first  year. 

The  matter  of  good  muscular  development  of  the 
posterior  parts  is  one  of  moment  to  the  laying  hen  that 
is  to  do  phenomenal  or  even  noticeably  good  work.  It 


20        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

is  of  more  importance  to  any  variety  that  has  tendencies 
toward  overdoing  some  of  the  good  qualities.  A  study 
of  these  points  is  of  vital  importance  to  those,  especially, 
who  would  carry  the  breeds  that  lay  on  fat  very  readily. 
A  White  Rock  hen  was  shown  at  New  York  some  time 
ago  which  tipped  the  scales  at  eleven  pounds.  She 
was  bought  by  a  young  enthusiast  to  put  .into  his  breed- 
ing yard.  I  wonder  if  an  old  hand  would  have  done  it. 

From  one  point  of  view,  the  Dominiques  and  Javas, 
good  as  they  are,  demand  but  little  attention,  because 
they  have  not,  during  a  very  long  period,  been  able  to 
make  a  wide  public  believe  in  their  merits.  Among  all 
the  American  varieties  and  breeds,  the  Black  Javas  and 
the  Dominiques  claim  precedence,  and  common  report 
now  has  it  that  the  beloved  Plymouth  Rock  itself 
sprung  from  the  union  of  Java  and  Dominique  blood. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  the  Plymouth  Rock  has  forged  to 
the  fore;  the  others  have  fallen  well  to  the  rear. 

Personally  I  believe  the  Black  Java  to  be  as  good  an 
all-around  bird  as  we  have  had,  as  far  as  performance 
while  living  is  concerned ;  but  a  market  fowl  with  dark 
legs  cannot  make  headway  against  the  dominating 
liking  for  yellow  ones.  I  remember  a  farmer's  wife, 
whom  I  knew  in  my  youth,  who  searched  during  almost 
a  lifetime  for  a  black  hen  with  yellow  legs.  I  never 
heard  that  she  found  it.  Her  search  had  nothing  to  do 
with  market  demands,  but  expressed  her  own  unbiassed 


PLYMOUTH  ROCK,  JAVA,  AND  DOMINIQUE     21 

preference.  Professor  George  C.  Watson,  in  his  valuable 
book,  "Farm  Poultry,"  calls  the  Javas  good  winter 
layers,  hardy,  and  true  breeders;  he  says  that  they  are 
easily  raised,  endure  confinement  well,  and  produce 
good  broiler  stock.  Professor  Watson  is  a  most  careful 
observer,  and  his  word  on  any  economic  question  per- 
taining to  the  farm  is  quite  worth  noting.  The  early 
Dominique  was  rather  of  the  Leghorn  type,  the  Java 
more  like  the  Asiatics;  the  two  were  united  in  the  hope 
of  getting  a  better  layer  than  either.  The  Dominiques 
are  claimed  by  those  who  breed  them  to  be  steadily 
increasing  in  favor.  A  prominent  breeder  of  the  Domi- 
niques asserts  that  they  were  "doubtless"  bred  long 
before  the  American  Revolution.  It  is  also  claimed 
that  they  have  been  made  especially  hardy,  through  sur- 
vival of  the  fittest  in  the  olden  days,  and  that  they  are 
now  the  hardiest  and  healthiest  of  all  our  varieties. 
But  this  claim  has  also  been  made  for  the  Rocks  and 
the  Reds ! 

Age,  hardiness,  and  all  other  good  qualities,  with  a  fair 
field  through  priority,  have  not  made  of  the  Dominique 
a  leader.  Though  she  is  only  a  half  pound  lighter  than 
the  Rock,  the  latter  has  taken  and  kept  the  lead,  and  no 
one  can  with  authority  say  why.  It  is  as  likely  as  not 
that  the  name  "Plymouth  Rock,"  with  its  suggestions 
of  solidity  and  its  appeal  to  the  sentiment,  has  been 
quite  a  factor  in  its  success.  Again,  the  pushing  power 


22        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

of  a  new  thing  well-backed  is  well  known.  No  one 
who  has  bred  the  Dominique  in  later  years  has  been 
known  to  acknowledge  that  it  had  any  serious  faults. 
It  has  recently  been  said  that  now  a  hundred  "intelli- 
gent and  appreciative  breeders"  are  working  to  bring 
it  to  the  fore.  If  this  only  is  what  it  lacked,  there  may 
be  a  new  story  to  tell,  farther  on. 


THE  WYANDOTTE 

The  Good  Old  Silvers  — The  Many  Followers  of  the  Silvers 
—  The  White  Wyandotte  and  Her  Claims  — Competition 
Record  of  the  Silver  Variety  —  Golden,  Buff,  Partridge, 
Silver  Pencilled,  and  Black  Sorts— The  Columbian— Color 
Problems 

ENOUGH  matter  has  been  published  in  this  country  on 
the  origin  of  the  Wyandotte  to  fill  volumes.  "  Facts  "  (  ?), 
theories,  suppositions,  go  to  make  up  the  sum  total 
of  what  has  been  said.  Every  little  while  the  war  of 
words  breaks  out  anew,  and  the  terms  Sebright  Cochin, 
Eureka,  Excelsior,  Silver  Spangled  Hamburg,  and 
Chittagong  are  jumbled  together  till  we  who  read  are 
ready  to  tear  our  hair  over  the  impossibility  of  making 
anything  out  of  it  any  more  sane  than  —  "Katy  did"  — 
"She  didn't."  Summing  it  all  up,  we  might  as  well 
settle  down  to  the  statement  of  the  man  who  was  Secre- 
tary of  the  American  Poultry  Association,  both  when 
they  were  refused  admission  to  the  Standard  and  when 
they  were  admitted.  For  they  were  refused  at  first  as 
"not  worthy,"  and  the  petitioners  went  back  and  worked 
on  them  till  they  made  them  worthy,  as  they  have  been 
working  on  them  ever  since  to  make  them  worthier. 


24        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

Mr.  J.  Y.  Bicknell,  the  Secretary  mentioned,  affirmed 
that  no  living  man  knew  when  they  made  their  first 
appearance  or  knew  anything  definite  as  to  their 
origin.  "I  know  this  from  a  careful  and  persistent 
search  from  every  known  source,  when  I  was  breeding 
them,"  were  his  words. 

If  we  take  up  to-day  the  poultry  books  of  the  early 
eighties,  we  shall  find  cuts  of  a  laced  black-and-white 
bird,  called  "The  Wyandotte."  No  longer  is  this 
"the"  Wyandotte;  that  honor  belongs  to  a  white  sport 
from  the  old,  original  Silver  Laced,  or,  as  she  is  now 
called,  the  "Silver  Wyandotte." 

But  the  Silver  Wyandotte  is  not  only  a  very  valuable 
bird,  she  is  also  the  progenitor  of  all  the  sports  which 
bear  the  name  of  Wyandotte,  and  this  is  quite  honor 
enough  for  any  variety.  Perhaps  not  all  the  varieties 
now  listed  as  "  Wyandottes"  carry  her  blood  in  all  their 
groups,  but  at  least  all  have  thought  it  worth  while  to 
adopt  her  name ;  also  her  shape  —  with  some  emphasis. 

Of  all  her  descendants,  the  most  universally  valuable, 
to  date,  has  been  the  White  Wyandotte.  The  sensa- 
tional birds  exhibited  for  some  time  past  bear  little 
resemblance  in  type  to  the  Silver  Wyandotte  of  the 
eighties,  the  head  being  really  the  best  point  of  identi- 
fication. The  winner  of  first  and  special  for  shape  in 
the  cock  class  at  the  Boston  show  in  1907,  and  also 
winner  of  a  bronze  vase  presented  by  the  representative 


THE   WYANDOTTE  25 

of  the  Japanese  government  as  the  best  bird  in  the  show, 
was  a  bird  bearing  virtually  no  straight  line  in  his  entire 
contour,  except  those  which  delineate  his  stout  legs  and 
toes.  From  head  to  shoulder,  from  back  to  sickles, 
down-curling;  from  tail  to  legs,  from  shanks  upward 
round  the  almost  pouting  breast,  the  eye  follows  a  suc- 
cession of  curves,  the  body  forming  almost  a  fat  crescent. 
This  bird  is  considered  one  of  the  nearest  to  the  ideal, 
and  he  differs  notably  in  outline  at  the  rear  from  some 
which  have  won  high  honors  in  recent  years.  So  far  was 
the  craze  for  a  short  body  carried  that  birds  were  shown 
which  looked  as  though  they  had  been  flattened,  or 
knocked  upward,  at  the  highest  posterior  point.  Some, 
indeed,  appeared  to  have  had  feathers  plucked  from 
below  the  tail  (the  tail  itself  being  undeveloped),  in  or- 
der to  emphasize  the  appearance  of  shortness  of  body. 
It  is  beginning  to  be  recognized  that  this  was  a  craze. 
Leaders  are  calling  for  a  halt,  and  warningly  crying 
that  the  utility  value  of  the  variety  as  an  egg  producer 
will  be  ruined,  if  the  body  is  not  lengthened.  How- 
ever this  may  be,  the  White  Wyandotte,  in  the  person  of 
one  of  her  breeders,  claims  a  present  record  of  two  hun- 
dred and  seventy-two  eggs  within  one  year,  and  she  has 
made  during  many  years  past  a  record  in  the  yards  of 
hundreds  of  breeders  which  has  enabled  them  to  enjoy 
life  and  its  amenities  far  better  than  they  could  have 
done  without  her.  The  Silver  Wyandotte,  with  per- 


26        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

haps  not  so  high  a  record,  has  a  more  highly  honor- 
able one,  in  that  it  was  won  in  competition  with  hun- 
dreds of  other  birds  under  the  same  conditions  and  in 
public  test.  She  finished  at  the  head  of  one  of  the  great 
Australian  competitions  with  an  average  of  two  hundred 
and  four  eggs  for  the  six  birds  in  the  pen,  while  five 
other  pens  of  the  same  variety  made  from  one  hundred 
and  forty-eight  to  nearly  two  hundred  as  averages. 
This  is  the  best  kind  of  record  work,  because  the  compe- 
tition was  against  the  fowls  of  many  breeders  and  in 
many  varieties:  Asiatic,  Mediterranean,  English,  and 
American  in  breed  types. 

The  Golden  Wyandotte  is  a  beauty-bird  which  has 
fine  utility  qualities  as  well.  Probably  the  fact  that  her 
colors  do  not  please  as  well  as  others  accounts  for  her 
lower  rank  among  the  Wyandottes.  Other  varieties 
are  newer,  and  have  hardly  had  time  to  crowd  the  origi- 
nals yet;  but  public  opinion  is  pretty  near  a  unit  in 
believing  that  no  party-colored  bird  that  is  difficult  to 
breed  can  hold  its  own  against  the  white  or  the  buff 
varieties  in  any  breed.  The  Partridge  Wyandotte  is, 
possibly,  the  nearest  of  any  to  a  genuine  fanciers'  bird ; 
but  it  is  too  difficult  to  breed  to  Standard  for  it  ever  to 
become  highly  popular,  and  the  bias  in  favor  of  the  birds 
that  dress  off  nice  and  clean  looking,  will  keep  the  Buffs 
and  the  Whites  in  the  lead.  I  presume  the  Silver  Pen- 
cilled are  at  the  foot  of  the  list  as  to  popularity,  although 


THE   WYANDOTTE  27 

the  Columbians  were  last  admitted.  No  black  bird 
can  hold  its  own  against  the  really  widely  popular 
sorts,  so  that  the  Blacks,  though  undoubtedly  good 
birds,  may  be  dismissed  without  discussion. 

One  of  the  editors  of  perhaps  our  strongest  poultry 
magazine  has  recently  asserted  that,  when  it  comes  to 
the  test  of  genuine  popularity,  every  breed  must  stand 
or  fall  upon  its  value  as  a  market,  or  table,  fowl.  I  am 
not  sure  whether  or  not  he  meant  this  to  include  its 
egg-laying  capacity,  but  I  can  hardly  think  such  a  state- 
ment would  be  made  without  this  inclusion.  The 
multiplicity  of  varieties  has  almost  whelmed  the  less 
striking,  even  of  so  good  a  breed  as  the  Wyandotte, 
and  the  created  popularity  of  some  breeds  and  varieties 
has  caused  them  to  overshadow  at  times  varieties  that 
are  really  better.  I  am  somewhat  of  the  opinion  that 
the  Buff  Wyandotte  has  suffered  to  some  extent  in  this 
fashion,  and  that  we  have  not  yet  heard  the  last  word 
about  her  and  her  rank.  Mr.  Felch,  than  whom  no 
man  knows  breeds  better,  both  as  to  their  rank  as  fancy 
fowls  and  as  to  their  economic  capacity,  has  stated 
positively  that  the  Buff  Wyandotte  is  the  best  layer  of  all 
the  Wyandottes.  It  hardly  seems  that  this  could  be 
true  of  a  bird  with  Cochin  ancestry;  but  it  has  often 
proved  true  that  the  Cochin,  in  furnishing  the  hardy, 
resistant  frame,  has  made  a  good  foundation  on  which 
to  build  the  higher  egg-laying  qualities  of  other  breeds. 


28        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

The  Buff  Wyandotte  is  a  handsome  bird,  either  as 
dressed  for  the  show,  or  as  "dressed"  for  market;  she 
is  faithful  at  the  egg-basket  as  well.  And  I  think  there 
may  come  a  time  when  the  mad  rush  for  the  white  mar- 
ket fowl  shall  be  stayed  a  little,  and  the. Buff  Wyandotte 
may  then  take  a  more  prominent  place  than  she  now 
holds.  Though  it  is  in  one  sense  high  credit,  it  is  in 
another  sense  a  discredit  for  any  one  breed  to  have  so 
many  varieties,  and  I  hope  we  may  never  have  another 
breed  with  so  many  varieties  as  has  the  Wyandotte. 

Never,  since  I  have  been  familiar  with  Standard-bred 
poultry  have  I  seen  any  variety  come  to  the  front  so 
rapidly  and  with  so  little  destructive  criticism  as  has 
been  the  case  with  the  Columbian  Wyandotte.  The 
Brahma  feathering  which  she  carries  has  always  been 
popular,  but  the  leg-feathering  has  driven  many  a  man 
away  from  the  Brahmas,  who  would  otherwise  have 
loved  them.  Given  then  a  bird  of  the  favorite  Wyan- 
dotte type,  familiarized  to  the  world  at  large  by  seven 
good  varieties,  and  having  the  well-liked  Light  Brahma 
plumage,  minus  leg-feathering,  it  would,  of  course,  be 
expected  to  meet  popular  liking. 

The  variety  has  been  widely  praised,  even  among 
those  who  carry  widely  different  varieties.  It  is  not 
yet  well  selected,  but  has  made  so  good  a  record  that 
prophecy  runs  among  the  older  seers  that  the  "  Colum- 
bian" bids  fair  to  take  the  leading  place  amid  those 


THE  WYANDOTTE  29 

birds  notable  for  both  beauty  and  utility.  More  unify- 
ing work  has  yet  to  be  put  upon  this  breed.  Selection 
and  breeding  must  better  its  type,  its  feathering,  its  egg. 
In  the  meantime  it  has  already  proved  an  exceptionally 
good  winter  layer,  and  the  good  winter  layer  is  what 
every  poultryman  from  Maine  to  California  is  seeking. 
If  bred  to  a  farm  type,  rather  large  and  long,  as  com- 
pared with  the  present  Standard  requirements,  it  may 
eventually  crowd  even  the  Barred  Rock  hard  in  the 
farmer's  affections.  All  these  newer  varieties  still 
need  time,  of  course,  to  bring  them  up  to  the  mental 
standard  we  are  idealizing  for  them. 

One  of  the  best  forward  steps  the  Standard  makers 
have  ever  taken  was  the  extremely  simple  one  of  intro- 
ducing a  brief  descriptive  paragraph  before  giving  the 
Standard  points  of  a  breed,  showing  how  distinctive- 
ness  is  attained,  by  calling  attention  to  the  why  and  how 
of  specific  difficult  points.  In  connection  with  the 
Wyandottes,  it  refers  to  the  interesting  color  problems 
met  in  handling  each  variety :  in  the  Whites,  to  secure 
the  pure  white,  avoiding  cream  and  brassy  tinges;  in 
the  Blacks,  to  avoid  purple  barring;  in  the  Silvers,  how 
to  get  silvery  hackles  without  the  brass  in  the  white ;  big, 
beautiful,  oval  centres  without  mossiness,  and  breast 
plumage  free  from  the  "frosted"  edge  outside  the  black 
lacing;  in  the  Goldens,  how  to  get  the  right  shade  of 
golden  bay  which  takes  the  place  of  the  white  in  the  Sil- 


30        HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

vers;  in  the  Buffs,  how  to  get  the  color  even  and  of  the 
same  shade  throughout,  without  touches  of  black  or 
white;  in  the  pencilled  varieties,  how  to  get  richness 
of  color  in  the  base,  with  a  clear  pencilling  laid  upon  it. 

One  of  the  helps  which  the  new  Standard  will  have 
is  a  set  of  color  plates,  the  best  that  the  wonderful  ad- 
vance in  color  work  will  allow.  These  will  not  be 
breed  plates,  but  accessory  plates  to  show  the  proper 
tones  in  feathers  for  the  various  colors,  which  it  is  vir- 
tually impossible  to  describe  in  words.  The  question 
of  proper  illustrations  has  harried  the  American  Poultry 
Association  for  a  decade,  and  the  next  issue  of  the 
Standard  will  show  some  really  artistic  breed  repro- 
ductions, which  it  is  hoped  to  have  true  to  ideal  and  as 
true  to  life  as  possible.  Camera  and  pencil  will  combine 
their  resources  to  offer  the  engravers  a  proper  base  for 
their  work. 

The  color  question  has  always  been  a  difficult  one, 
especially  for  beginners.  There  is  the  getting  it,  not 
only,  but  the  keeping  it.  The  following  letter  shows 
some  of  the  difficulties. 

Though  referring  to  Orpingtons,  it  applies  as  well  to 
all  buff  and  white  varieties,  whatever  the  breed :  — 

"  I  have  been  keeping  Buff  Orpingtons  for  two  years  ;  they 
lay  pretty  well  and  are  grand  table  chickens,  but  I  find  the 
buff  fades.  Though  I  have  a  fine  flock,  if  I  have  hens  of 
different  ages  I  have  hens  of  different  shades,  and  some  fade 


THE   WYANDOTTE  31 

sooner  than  others.  In  consequence,  the  flock  looks  uneven, 
and  I  think  that  detracts  from  its  beauty.  Do  all  buff  birds 
fade  ?  Is  buff  more  popular  than  white  ?  Are  Buff  Orping- 
tons brought  to  greater  perfection  than  White  or  Black  ?  I 
want  to  weed  out  my  poor  layers  with  trap  nests,  and  I  find 
that  some  of  the  best-colored  birds  are  the  poorest  layers.  I 
would  like  to  try  Whites.  Have  they  any  glaring  defects  ? 
Do  black  feathers  crop  out?  Are  White  Orpingtons  pure 
white  ?  It  seems  to  me  the  great  egg  producers  of  the  world 
that  are  also  prize  winners  are  white.  Do  you  think  I  can 
improve  on  white  for  a  combined  utility  and  show  bird  ?  I 
want  to  know,  if  I  change,  what  I  shall  be  up  against." 

Reply:  A  good  many  years  ago  Mr.  Felch  stated, 
in  one  of  his  books,  the  general  law  that  all  breeds  grow 
lighter  with  age.  This  referred  not  only  to  the  fading 
of  the  plumage  annually,  as  it  nears  the  period  of  cast- 
ing off,  but  also  to  the  lightening  of  the  color  with  each 
successive  moult.  So  you  will  see  that  you  have  not 
much  to  complain  of  in  the  simple  fact  that  your  Buffs 
fade.  I  think  it  is  true  that  buff  fades  more  than  many 
of  the  other  colors,  and  it  is  also  true  that  buff  birds  vary 
much,  not  only  in  the  color  of  individuals  as  compared 
with  other  individuals,  but  in  the  feathers  of  a  single 
bird  as  compared  with  other  feathers  on  the  same 
bird.  Whenever  there  is  moulting,  there  is,  in  an  espe- 
cial degree,  unevenness  of  color,  because  new  feathers 
are  strong  in  color  and  older  ones  are  more  or  less  faded. 
That  is,  unevenness  of  color  is  very  largely  due  to  dif- 


32         HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

ference  in  the  age  of  the  feathers.  Even  where  the  birds 
are  not  faded,  it  is  only  the  exceptionally  good  flocks 
that  contain  birds  largely  duplicates  in  color  as  some 
come  light  and  others  medium  or  dark,  at  their  first 
complete  feathering. 

All  these  facts  together  make  the  color  question  with 
Buffs  a  serious  one,  even  though  they  are  solid  colored. 
And  when  you  put  in  the  requirement  that  your  buff 
birds  shall  be  first-class  for  both  utility  and  show,  you 
are  putting  a  snag  in  your  own  path ;  since  the  standard 
way  to  control  the  color  of  buffs  is  to  keep  them  out  of 
the  sun  as  much  as  possible,  and  this  cannot  make  for  the 
vigor  demanded  in  the  best  utility  birds.  There  will 
always  be  some  points  on  which  "utility"  and  "fancy" 
will  quarrel  so  seriously  that  there  seems  to  be  no  recon- 
ciling them.  We  must  give  up  one  or  the  other,  or  else 
compromise.  But  I  am  certain  that  the  longer  any  one 
breeds  fancy  stock,  the  more  averse  he  will  be  to  subor- 
dinate vigor,  even  to  some  greatly  desired  fancy  point. 
Thus  it  comes  about  that  many  breeders  of  white  birds 
stop  at  the  point  where  the  fancy  requires  them  to  pro- 
duce birds  that  are  chalky,  in  a  breed  having  yellow 
legs  and  skin.  Such  a  breeder  can  hardly  reach  the  top 
as  a  breeder  of  exhibition  birds,  but  he  will  have  better 
success  along  other  lines,  and  may  have  a  better  con- 
science; because  a  goodly  proportion  of  any  breeder's 
customers  are  of  those  who  cannot  hope  to  have  any 


THE  WYANDOTTE  33 

success  with  birds  of  less  than  the  fullest  vigor,  and 
any  one  who  has  bred  delicate  fancy  stock  long  or 
practised  double  mating  long  knows  that  his  customers 
are  often  throwing  away  money  when  they  buy  of  him. 

The  question  of  brassiness  and  that  of  troublesome 
black  feathers  takes  the  place  of  the  problem  of  fading 
and  mealiness  in  buffs,  as  soon  as  one  changes  from 
the  buffs  to  the  white  breeds.  So  you  will  do  well  to 
think  pretty  carefully  before  you  change  because  of 
just  one  count  against  the  breed  you  now  carry.  I  do 
not  say  this  because  you  are  thinking  of  Orpingtons, 
or  with  reference  to  any  special  breed,  but  as  a  bit  of 
common  sense  generally  applicable.  However,  if  you 
changed  from  Buff  Orpingtons  to  White  Orpingtons, 
which  I  gather  is  what  you  have  in  mind,  you  would 
probably  meet  but  little  trouble,  because  the  latter  are 
not  required  to  have  the  yellow  skin  and  legs  common 
to  the  American  white  birds. 

I  don't  think  I  quite  get  your  point  of  view  where 
you  state  a  belief  that  the  great  egg  producers  of  the 
world  that  are  also  prize  winners  are  of  the  white 
varieties.  I  see  nothing  to  lead  one  to  think  that  pro- 
lificacy, prize  winning,  and  white  feathering  are  neces- 
sarily linked.  Perhaps  the  fact  that  white  birds  are  in 
the  large  majority,  being  much  more  popular  than  any 
others,  gives  you  the  idea.  And  when  three  of  the 
tremendously  popular  breeds  in  this  country,  viz., 


34         HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

Wyandottes,  Leghorns,  and  Rocks,  are  so  very  widely 
distributed  in  their  white  varieties,  one  might  easily 
draw  conclusions  that  have  no  basis  except  in  the  fact 
that  such  a  large  number  of  white  birds  is  raised.  It 
is,  I  think,  a  world  axiom  that  white  in  itself  indicates 
a  lessening  of  vigor,  however  slight,  as  compared  with 
darker  colors  in  the  same  lines  of  blood. 

However,  I  do  not  think  you  "can  improve  on 
white  for  a  combined  utility  and  show  bird,"  taking 
this  question  on  its  sole  merits.  Aside  from  the  fact 
that  white  birds  show  the  soiling  of  the  plumage  so 
quickly  and  so  much,  there  are  few  arguments  strongly 
against  them.  You  would,  of  course,  be  "up  against" 
the  hot  competition  of  the  whole  country,  and  you 
could  avoid  this  entirely  by  choosing,  as  a  few  do, 
some  breed  that  is  little  raised.  As  headquarters  for 
some  such  variety,  one  stands  some  show  of  custom, 
and  plenty  of  "show"  in  the  show-room.  But  there  is 
nothing  like  so  much  interest  in  the  whole  thing,  and 
perhaps  the  number  of  customers  would  not  be  equal 
to  your  share  of  those  who  are  buying  the  more  popu- 
lar varieties.  The  popularity  of  white  birds  is  inherent 
in  the  make-up  of  the  people;  the  "popularity"  of 
buffs,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a  worked  up  popularity, 
such  as  it  is.  It  arises  from  a  supposition  that  buffs 
are  going  to  be  first  favorites  in  some  not  too  far  distant 
future,  based  on  a  belief  that  they  are  both  very  much 


THE   WYANDOTTE  35 

liked  and  fashionable  now.  This  is  true,  but  true  in 
a  limited  sense;  and  many  of  those  who  take  up 
buffs  do  so  more  because  of  prophecy  than  of  present 
fact.  Perhaps  I  don't  need  to  tell  you  that  prophecy 
has  far  more  of  the  characteristics  of  an  art  than  of  a 
science.  It  is  freely  prophesied  that  the  Buff  Orping- 
ton is  the  coming  bird.  It  is  also  prophesied  that  the 
White  Rock  will  at  no  very  distant  date  be  the  most 
popular  variety  of  any  breed  in  this  country.  But 
prophets  have  their  limitations  of  vision.  Some  have 
axes  to  grind;  some  think  themselves  especially  favored 
with  quick  vision  of  the  future  when  they  are  not; 
some  speak  without  full  knowledge  of  the  facts,  etc. 
It  is  a  great  thing  to  be  able  to  look  ahead,  but  we  all 
are  mistaken  sometimes. 


THE   RHODE   ISLAND   RED   AND  THE 
BUCKEYE 

"  The  Ideal  Breed  "  ?  —  Origin  —  General  Style  —  The  Pea- 
combed  Red  Birds  —  The  Buckeye  a  "Made"  Breed  — 
Beauty  of  Coloring 

THERE  is  one  Rhode  Island  Red  breeder  who  has 
had  my  special  interest  because  he  has  succeeded,  by 
his  own  account,  in  doing  what  no  one  else  has  been 
able  to  do  with  any  other  breed  known !  I  mention 
this  to  show  how  far  enthusiasm  may  lead  a  fancier. 
This  is  his  statement:  "When  my  birds  are  grown  I 
examine  each  one  carefully,  and  if  it  fails  to  coincide 
with  the  Standard  in  any  way,  I  throw  it  out  of  the 
pen  and  send  it  to  market."  No  other  breeder,  no 
editor,  no  breezy  amateur  with  his  frequent  gush,  no 
judge  in  his  linen  ulster,  has  ever  found  a  bird  of  any 
breed  that  coincided  exactly  with  the  Standard  de- 
scription. This  man  stands  alone.  And  on  the 
strength  of  this  he  sells  all  his  eggs  —  so  he  says  —  to 
his  neighbors  at  two  dollars  a  sitting  and  has  no  diffi- 
culty in  thus  disposing  of  every  egg!  Please  notice 
that  this  is  the  breeder's  own  exact  statement.  In  his 
36 


THE   RHODE   ISLAND    RED   AND   BUCKEYE    37 

enthusiasm  for  his  favorite  breed  I  do  not  suppose  he 
realized  that  he  was  putting  a  direct  untruth  into  his 
"article  on  Rhode  Island  Reds."  Yet  every  other 
breeder  would  know  that  it  was  gross  exaggeration  — 
an  impossibility. 

In  another  article  in  the  same  publication  concern- 
ing this  "ideal  breed"  occurs  this  statement:  "As 
there  has  been  so  much  outbreeding  done  with  the 
Reds,  and  consequently  they  have  acquired  so  much 
foreign  blood,  I  am  willing,  as  yet,  to  sacrifice  a  little  in 
comb,  eye,  or  shape,  in  order  to  obtain  something  fine 
in  feather,  because  I  have  found  the  Reds  harder  to 
breed  for  feather  than  for  other  Standard  characteris- 
tics." Here  is  a  man  who  is  telling  the  straight  truth, 
and  no  one  who  is  deep  in  fancy  poultry  mating  and 
breeding  will  think  the  worse  of  the  breed  for  what  he 
says,  because  the  same  thing  is  more  or  less  true  of 
virtually  all  breeds.  The  Red  is  a  little  worse  because 
it  has  so  many  breeds  behind  it  in  its  blood. 

But  now  put  this  statement  beside  one  which  ap- 
peared with  a  query  a  few  days  ago,  to  the  effect  that 
Rhode  Island  Red  eggs  at  ten  dollars  a  hundred  from 
a  well-known  breeder  gave  birds  "of  three  or  four 
colors,  and  a  great  many  of  them  have  side  sprigs" 
(on  the  comb).  It  is  easy  to  see  that  the  outcrossing 
mentioned  by  the  breeder  above  accounts  at  once  for 
the  variations  in  color  complained  of  by  the  novice 


38        HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

buyer.  And  there  are  few,  if  any,  breeds  of  this  diffi- 
cult color  of  which  the  same  is  not  likely  to  be  measur- 
ably true;  yet,  in  the  face  of  this  fact,  it  is  also  true 
that  birds  of  such  evenness  and  depth  and  richness  of 
color  are  selected  for  the  big  shows  that  expert  and 
novice  alike  simply  rave  over  them.  The  finest  ones 
are  indeed  of  rare  beauty,  and  the  adjective  is  all  the 
more  fitting  in  that  it  also  expresses  the  fact  that  such 
birds  are  also  "rare." 

Theoretically,  it  is  a  beautiful  idea  —  this  of  an  ideal 
bird !  I  do  not  know  that  any  have  yet  claimed  to 
have  found  it,  except  fanciers  with  birds  to  sell;  but 
it  is  the  bird  we  are  all  looking  to  find  some  day,  in 
hope,  at  least.  This  breed  would  suit  us,  with  an  "if." 
That  one  would  be  perfect,  with  two  or  three  "ifs," 
etc.  Still,  I  do  not  suppose  that  any  breed  now  exists 
that  has  not  been  claimed  by  some  one  to  be  "the 
ideal  breed."  There  are  even  now  popular  breeds, 
unpopular  breeds,  and  breeds  of  which  ninety-nine 
persons  out  of  one  hundred  never  heard  the  name,  to 
all  of  which  some  enthusiast  has  at  some  time  applied 
the  desirable  adjective  "ideal." 

If  you  wish  to  go  back  to  the  beginning,  when  the 
Rhode  Island  Reds  were  called  "the  Bill  Tripp" 
fowls  (after  the  man  who  originated  them,  and  had 
them  at  their  then  best),  you  will  find  yourself  face 
to  face  with  Asiatics,  while  our  red  breeds  are  known 


THE    RHODE   ISLAND    RED   AND    BUCKEYE    39 

as  American  breeds;  but  even  here,  though  the  story 
of  their  origin  comes  from  the  children  of  the  originator, 
there  seems  to  be  a  little  doubt  or  difference.  The  son 
of  William  Tripp  has  said  that  the  foundation  of  the 
breed  was  the  old  Chittagongs  and  Cochin-Chinas, 
crossed  together.  The  daughter  states  that  she  re- 
members the  incident  of  her  father  bringing  the  original 
red  rooster  home ;  and  Dr.  Aldrich,  a  prominent  Rhode 
Island  Red  breeder,  who  went  to  her  for  information, 
said  of  the  fowls,  "They  were  undoubtedly  of  the  old 
red  Malay  and  Shanghai  blood."  But  William  Tripp 
crossed  and  recrossed  among  the  descendants  of  the 
old  red  rooster  till  even  he,  probably,  would  have  found 
it  difficult  or  impossible  to  tell  the  exact  blood  enter- 
ing into  the  more  modern  specimens  of  his  own  breed- 
ing; not  to  mention  what  they  went  through  in  other 
hands  than  his.  Until  the  last  years  of  his  life  he  did 
not  breed  for  points  or  ancestry,  but  rather  for  feather- 
less  yellow  legs  and  a  good  carcass  for  market,  with 
superior  laying  quality.  The  later  crosses,  in  the 
hands  of  neighboring  farmers,  and  fanciers'  efforts  at 
improvement  after  the  birds  had  a  definite  breed  name, 
have  rendered  the  breed  a  remarkably  varying  one  as 
to  different  strains  and  have  involved  it  in  obscurity 
not  now  to  be  cleared.  We  must  be  content  to  accept 
them  for  what  they  are  and  what  they  may  become 
from  this  time  forth. 


40        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

Although  so  widely  bred,  it  was  not  until  recently 
that  the  Single  Comb  Rhode  Island  Reds  gained  ad- 
mission to  The  Standard  of  Perfection.  They  are 
the  Rhode  Island  Reds  concerning  which,  in  an  ex- 
planatory note  preceding  the  requirements,  The 
Standard  of  Perfection  says:  "They  are  believed  to 
have  originated  from  crosses  of  the  Asiatics,  Mediter- 
raneans, and  Games."  It  hardly  needs  to  be  said  that 
a  breed  made  up  of  three  widely  differing  types,  as 
well  as  of  the  blood  of  many  different  breeds  with 
different  mix-ups  in  different  hands,  will  need  many 
years  to  overcome  variation  of  type,  if,  indeed,  this  is 
ever  overcome.  For  a  breed  that  has  been  in  existence 
fifty  years  (as  is  sometimes  claimed),  the  Rhode  Island 
Reds  will  produce  an  incredible  number  of  rank  culls, 
as  well  as  some  of  the  most  beautiful  birds  that  now 
appear  at  our  exhibitions. 

The  Standard  calls  for  a  bird  of  good  size,  running 
from  five  pounds  in  the  pullets  to  eight  and  one-half 
pounds  in  the  matured  males.  A  body  broad  and  deep 
and  long  must  necessarily,  it  would  seem,  weigh  even 
more  than  the  extreme  of  eight  and  one-half  pounds  for 
which  The  Standard  of  Perfection  calls;  and  when 
the  demand  is  also  for  a  long  keel,  extending  well  for- 
ward, so  as  to  present  an  oblong  appearance,  and  also 
for  a  tail  carried  at  but  forty  degrees  above  hori- 
zontal for  the  sake  of  adding  apparent  length,  there  is 


THE   RHODE   ISLAND    RED   AND   BUCKEYE    41 

the  foundation  not  only  of  a  big  bird  but  of  one  that 
looks  larger  than  it  really  is.  I  am  quite  curious  to 
see  what  will  result  in  ten  years  more  from  these  re- 
quirements. The  tail  of  the  female  is  to  be  carried 
five  degrees  lower  still  than  that  of  the  male,  as  noted 
above.  Thighs,  shanks,  toes,  and  tail  in  the  male  are 
to  be  of  medium  length,  while  the  tail  in  the  female  is 
to  be  rather  short.  It  seems  a  question  to  me  whether 
a  bird  with  not  only  all  its  body  measurements  but  its 
contour  in  excess  (for  the  breast  is  to  be  full)  and  all 
its  supports  and  outportions  medium  or  short  would 
not  be  a  good  deal  of  a  monstrosity,  if  bred  strictly  to 
the  letter  of  its  standard.  Most  other  requirements, 
aside  from  those  mentioned,  are  for  medium  develop- 
ment. 

The  comb  must  be  straight,  not  lopping,  and  must 
have  only  five  nice,  even  serrations.  The  almond 
shape  is  called  for  in  ear  lobes,  and  they  are  rather 
small  and  fine.  Nearly  all  requirements  in  the  vari- 
ous breeds  are  based  on  a  mental  standard,  only  to 
be  gained  through  experience  with  Standard  bred 
fowls.  For  instance,  a  back  of  medium  length  means 
a  back  that  is  medium  as  the  backs  of  fowls  average. 
So  in  most  other  requirements,  one  must  have  an  idea 
in  mind  of  what  an  average  bird  in  each  of  these  points 
is.  This  average  is  the  mental  standard  of  comparison. 

The  red  color  is  kept  a  prominent  characteristic  of 


42         HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

the  breed  throughout.  Eyes,  face,  wattles,  lobes,  under- 
color, are  to  be  red.  Even  the  beak  is  to  be  horn 
color,  with  a  reddish  cast.  Shanks  and  toes,  reddish 
horn,  when  not  yellow,  and  it  is  considered  desir- 
able to  have  a  line  of  red  showing  down  the  sides  of 
the  legs.  Lucky  Rhode  Island  breeders !  For  most 
breeds  have  to  get  rid  of  this  line,  which  is  continually 
trying  to  appear  in  many  of  them. 

As  to  plumage,  the  red  is  to  be  rich  and  brilliant, 
and  as  even  as  possible,  darker  color  on  wings  and 
back  being  allowable,  but  mealiness  and  shafting 
being  prohibited.  The  color  should  be  so  brilliant  as 
to  look  glossy.  Under-color  is  to  be  red  or  salmon, 
with  no  smut,  and  if  several  specimens  are  equal  in 
all  else,  the  prize  will  go  to  the  bird  best  in  under- 
color. Webster  defines  "salmon"  as  "  reddish  yellow,  or 
orange  color,  like  the  flesh  of  the  salmon."  The  flesh 
of  the  salmon  varies  a  good  many  shades,  and  the 
redder  the  "salmon"  the  better,  probably,  it  will  please 
the  judges. 

Any  one  may  see  that,  as  good  birds  become  more 
common,  one  who  would  breed  show  birds  must  be 
more  and  more  sure  to  know  every  little  point  of  a 
good  bird,  as  upon  these  little  points  often  depends 
the  capture  of  the  prize.  Even  "laundrying"  the  bird, 
as  it  is  sometimes  called,  somewhat  in  derision,  often 
makes  the  difference  which  gains  the  prize.  At  one 


THE   RHODE   ISLAND    RED    AND    BUCKEYE    43 

Boston  show  carelessness  of  the  transportation  folk 
ruined  the  birds  of  a  prominent  breeder,  to  the  extent 
of  losing  him  some  coveted  firsts,  and  as  small  a  thing 
throws  some  one  out  of  a  prize  nearly  every  time  a 
big  show  occurs. 

The  admission  of  two  red  varieties  of  American 
origin  to  the  American  Standard  of  Perfection  at  a 
single  meeting  gave  us  enough  recognized  red  breeds 
to  form  a  class  by  themselves.  And  as  the  color  is 
rather  likely  to  prove  more  generally  popular  than  any 
other  except  white,  the  red  breeds  promise  to  be  un- 
usually interesting  for  some  time  to  come. 

The  "American  Reds,"  having  been  well  known  to 
the  public  for  a  considerable  time  under  the  name  of 
"Rose  Comb  Rhode  Island  Reds,"  performed  a  grand 
transformation  act  not  long  before  the  Minneapolis 
meeting  of  the  American  Poultry  Association,  and 
asked  for  admission  under  a  name  by  which  they  had 
not  before  been  recognized.  They  had  been  shown 
many  times  as  Rose  Comb  Rhode  Island  Reds. 

When  the  report  of  the  meeting  went  out,  the  breeders 
of  the  original  variety  were  up  in  arms.  Doubtless 
they  would  have  preferred  not  to  have  Rose  Combs  of 
their  breed.  The  Rose  Combs  had  pushed  ahead 
wonderfully,  and  crowded  the  Single  Comb  Rhode 
Island  Reds  (themselves  admitted  but  a  few  months 
earlier)  rather  hard.  (At  some  of  the  largest  shows, 


44        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

the  Rose  Combs  have  occasionally  been  more  numer- 
ous than  the  Single  Combs.)  When  these  same  Rose 
Combs  asked  to  be  admitted  in  a  way  that  made  them 
keener  rivals,  without  acknowledging  their  debt  to  the 
Rhode  Island  Red  breed,  the  matter  seemed  to  have 
reached  the  status  of  direct  injury. 

I  am  mentioning  this  only  to  forefend  puzzled  ques- 
tions in  the  future  from  some  who  may  stumble  upon 
mention  of  "The  American  Reds"  and  wonder  how 
to  place  them.  It  will  be  seen  that  these  are  the  same 
as  the  Rose  Comb  Rhode  Island  Reds.  They  were 
not  able  to  hold  the  name  against  the  storm  of  protest. 
They  occupied  the  centre  of  the  field  for  one  year. 
During  that  time,  Eastern  breeders  who  had  not  taken 
the  trouble  to  go  so  far  as  Minneapolis  to  attend  the 
American  Poultry  Association  meeting,  made  matters 
very  lively.  They  raised  such  a  protest  and  clamor 
for  reversal  that  the  noise  of  it  was  heard  across  the 
continents.  It  was  kept  up  for  a  year,  and  at  the 
following  annual  meeting  of  the  American  Poultry 
Association  everybody  begged  everybody's  pardon  and 
the  name  "  American  Reds  "  was  dropped.  The  name 
was  carried  in  advertisements  for  a  short  time,  but  has 
now  passed  out  of  sight. 

Buckeyes  are  a  different  story.  There  is  quite  a 
long  tale  of  a  mix-up  at  the  beginning  which  caused 
the  Buckeyes  to  be  confused  in  the  minds  of  the  public 


THE   RHODE   ISLAND    RED   AND   BUCKEYE    45 

with  the  Rhode  Island  Reds.  They  are,  however,  of 
totally  different  origin,  and  do  not  carry  the  same 
blood,  except  as  breeders  have  tried  to  make  a  Pea 
Comb  Rhode  Island  Red  by  using  the  Buckeye  blood. 
The  Buckeyes  were  made  from  the  union  of  the  Plym- 
outh Rock,  the  Buff  Cochin,  the  Game,  and  the  Cor- 
nish Indian  blood. 

It  is  a  somewhat  curious  commentary  on  circum- 
stances that,  while  Rhode  Island  Red  breeders  have 
dallied  and  opposed  and  refused  recognition  to  the  Pea 
Comb  type  of  this  fowl,  a  worker  in  the  Middle  West 
should  have  been  quietly  and  persistently  toiling  and 
planning  to  produce  a  bird  which,  when  first  brought 
to  public  notice,  could  almost  have  been  mistaken  for 
the  Rhode  Island  Red,  but  which  had  a  pea  comb. 
Such  men  as  Mr.  Felch  have  stood  for  the  assertion 
that  the  Pea  Comb  was  the  only  consistent  type  for 
Rhode  Island  Red  breeders  to  follow,  and  the  ma- 
hogany red  the  true  and  desirable  color.  Yet  the 
breeders  turned  away  from  this  expert  advice  and  went 
their  own  ways. 

The  name  Buckeye  Reds,  as  first  given,  was  partly 
for  the  Buckeye  state,  where  they  were  originated, 
and  partly  for  the  color  of  the  females,  which  is  almost 
that  of  the  ripe  buckeye,  or,  as  easterners  know  it,  a 
horse-chestnut.  The  gloss  and  color  of  the  buckeye 
are  charming,  and,  when  transferred  to  moving, 


46        HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

active  birds,  with  the  contrasting  red  blossoms  of 
combs,  cannot  fail  to  be  attractive.  The  originator  of 
this  new  breed  is  a  woman,  who  describes  herself  as 
"of  the  greyhound  order"  —  that  keen,  slim,  nervous 
type  that  "brings  things  to  pass."  She  counselled  with 
two  of  the  best  judges  of  the  Middle  West,  one  being 
secretary  of  the  American  Poultry  Association,  both  of 
whom  advised  her  to  go  ahead,  get  her  breed  admitted 
to  the  Standard  as  soon  as  possible,  and  give  it  to  the 
country.  The  favorite  Plymouth  Rock  blood  enters 
into  the  new  breed,  being  the  first  base  used  for  cross- 
ing. There  were  two  infusions  of  Game  blood,  which 
always  gives  good  utility  quality  in  a  cross.  The 
Standard  weights  run  from  five  pounds  in  the  pullet 
to  nine  pounds  in  the  matured  male.  The  male  body 
plumage  is  described  as  "dark,  rich,  velvety  red,  garnet, 
or  dark  cardinal  in  shade."  The  tail  may  have  darker 
points.  Legs  and  skin  are  of  the  desired  rich  yellow. 
"The  skin  is  not  tough  and  leathery,  like  that  of  the 
Rocks,  while  the  flesh  is  finer  grained  and  of  better 
flavor."  This  is  probably  a  heritage  from  the  Game 
ancestry. 

The  originator  says:  "I  thought  the  Langshans  the 
handsomest  birds  on  earth.  They  laid  well,  too,  and 
the  white-skinned  flesh  was  tender  and  delicious.  The 
black  pin-feathers,  however,  nearly  drove  us  to  distrac- 
tion, so  we  switched  off  to  Barred  Rocks,  which  we 


THE   RHODE   ISLAND    RED   AND   BUCKEYE     47 

liked  very  much,  although  we  never  made  great  layers 
of  them.  Thinking  to  improve  them,  we  crossed  them 
with  Buff  Cochins,  then  used  what  we  supposed  were 
Black-breasted  Red  Games  with  them.  As  part  of 
these  Games  had  yellow  legs  and  pea  combs,  we  now 
feel  sure  that  they  had  been  mixed  with  the  Cornish 
Indian  Game  before  we  got  them,  and  here  is  where  we 
got  the  pea  comb. 

"This  mix-up  produced  a  bird  or  two  that  were 
red  as  foxes,  with  yellow  legs,  and  I  went  wild  over 
them  and  conceived  the  idea  of  raising  a  whole  flock  like 
them.  When  at  last  I  had  a  sizable  flock,  a  name  was 
the  next  puzzle.  We  finally  condescended  to  give  the 
honor  to  our  own  State  and  call  them '  Buckeye  Reds.' 
This  seemed  the  more  suitable  as  the  hens  were  as 
brown  as  a  ripe  buckeye,  with  a  red  sheen  in  the  sun." 

When  the  breed  is  perfected,  the  birds  will  be 
darker  than  the  Rhode  Island  Reds  are  now.  The 
pullets  will  be  nearly  a  mahogany  red,  while  the  males 
will  be  more  brilliant.  They  have  had  much  of  the 
Cornish  style,  but  the  Standard  calls  for  medium  legs, 
neck,  etc.,  so  that  selection  will  soon  weed  this  out  of 
them.  Indeed,  a  fair  proportion  do  come  with  as  short 
legs  as  one  would  care  to  see  on  them.  They  are  good 
fighters,  but  singularly  chummy  and  confidential  with 
people,  being  easily  tamed.  I  do  not  see  how  this  can 
be  the  case,  but  it  is  entirely  true.  Those  we  had 


48        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

made  the  most  desirable  sitters  we  have  seen.  They 
have  a  small  pea  comb,  and  I  kept  them  two  winters 
in  what  is  practically  an  open  shed,  without  seeing  a 
sign  of  frozen  comb  or  wattles.  The  last  winter  they 
were  free  to  go  out  and  in  at  will  nearly  every  day. 
When  we  first  got  them,  and  for  some  months,  I  felt 
undecided  as  to  their  superior  value.  The  word  that 
fits  them  is  one  not  usually  considered  very  strong,  yet 
it  can  be  applied  only  to  such  varieties  of  fowl,  beast, 
and  plant  as  please  many  people  in  many  character- 
istics. That  word  is  "satisfactory."  The  rose  cata- 
logued as  "satisfactory"  is  the  one  most  people  will 
finally  "tie  to";  so  with  the  satisfactory  animal  or 
fowl;  it  is  better  for  the  ordinary  worker  than  one 
which  has  one  or  a  few  phenomenally  good  qualities 
and  a  lot  of  poor  ones. 

A  Buckeye  cockerel  killed  for  the  table,  after  being 
bled,  tipped  the  scales  at  seven  pounds,  and  measured 
four  inches  straight  across  the  breast.  A  breast  like 
that  makes  good  slicing,  and  such  a  bird  looks  like  a 
young  turkey  when  it  comes  on  the  table.  The  meat 
is  of  first  quality. 

In  several  respects,  the  Buckeye  standard  reads 
much  like  that  of  the  Rhode  Island  Reds.  The 
plumage,  however,  is  described  as  a  red  of  dark,  rich, 
and  velvety  character,  even  running  to  garnet  or  dark 
cardinal,  almost  mahogany  red.  The  under-color  is 


THE   RHODE   ISLAND   RED   AND   BUCKEYE    49 

to  be  of  a  lighter  red,  with  some  slate  in  the  back. 
Black  is  allowed  in  surface  color  in  tail  and  in  under 
folded  primaries.  Other  things  being  about  on  a  par, 
the  preference  is  given  to  the  bird  having  the  most 
even  dark  red  surface  color.  A  good  judge  has  said 
that  the  Buckeye  standard  is  much  the  best  standard 
among  the  red  breeds. 

I  think  the  majority  of  people  fail  to  realize  that  more 
allowance  must  be  made  for  a  new  breed  than  for  an 
old  one  —  that  is,  one  cannot  be  sure  of  so  large  a  pro- 
portion of  good  birds  from  the  number  of  eggs  —  I 
mean  good  from  the  Standard  point  of  view.  Selection 
must  be  rigid,  or  bad  faults  crop  out.  Some  have  tried 
to  throw  public  discredit  on  the  Buckeyes  because  a 
good  many  feathered  legs,  off-colored  feathers,  etc., 
appear,  but  the  same  could  be  said,  even  to  this  day, 
about  the  White  Wyandottes,  the  Leghorns  (old  as  they 
are),  etc.,  and  eminently  so  of  the  Rhode  Island  Reds. 
The  trouble  is,  breeders  who  want  to  try  experiments 
are  continually  introducing  foreign  blood,  which  in 
time  goes  all  over  the  country,  and  no  flock  into  which 
outside  blood  is  brought  can  be  safe  from  such  contami- 
nation. Some  time  ago  I  had  Rhode  Island  Red  eggs 
from  a  breeder  of  considerable  pretension,  who  gets  a 
fair  proportion  of  first  prizes  and  advertises  that  his 
stock  is  unequalled,  or  words  to  that  effect.  Ever  so 
many  of  them  had  feathers  on  the  legs  when  hatched  — 


50        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

more,  I  think,  in  proportion,  than  any  Buckeyes  I  have 
yet  seen. 

Twice  I  have  had  communications  saying  that  the 
writer  thereof  had  been  "beat"  in  buying  Buckeye 
eggs.  It  is  easy  to  put  out  fraudulent  goods,  espe- 
cially in  a  new  breed.  But  it  is  possible  that  a  buyer 
might  think  himself  "beat"  simply  because  he  made 
no  allowances;  or  when  he  had  bought  second  or  third 
grade  eggs.  Then,  at  times,  in  any  breed,  a  male 
which  is  a  model  specimen  will  not  give  good  progeny. 
One  of  the  best  males,  in  appearance,  which  the  origi- 
nator of  the  Buckeyes  ever  had  produced  chicks  with 
one  particular  serious  fault.  Another,  a  much  admired 
male,  produced  only  disqualified  chicks  on  the  male 
side.  All  these  things  have  to  be  taken  into  account 
before  one  cries  "fraud." 

On  the  general  farm,  conditions  are  such  that  fowls 
tend  constantly  to  become  smaller  in  size.  For  this 
reason  the  good-sized  Buckeye,  with  a  male  weighing 
nine  pounds  when  mature,  should  make  an  excellent 
farm  fowl. 

The  best  specimens  of  the  red  breeds  are  now  so  very 
rich  in  color  that  no  one  could  help  admiring  them. 
The  under-color,  quills,  skin,  etc.,  are  so  nearly  alike 
that  they  dress  off  beautifully.  There  is  no  shadow  of 
doubt  that  American  breeds  suit  Americans  full  well. 
Nor  is  there  much  doubt  that  the  handsome  red  breeds, 


THE    RHODE   ISLAND    RED   AND    BUCKEYE    51 

being  solid  in  color,  will  suit  better,  when  well  known, 
than  any  party-colored  breed.  The  Buckeyes  that  I 
have  seen,  from  the  originator's  yards  seem  decidedly 
nearer  the  Malay  type  than  any  of  the  other  reds.  This 
shows  partly  in  the  greater  difference  in  size  between 
the  males  and  females. 


• 


THE    CHIEF     COMPETITORS     OF    THE 
AMERICAN  HEN 

The  Leghorn's  Place  —  Orpington  History  —  Showroom  Popu- 
larity —  The  Orpington  and  the  Wyandotte 

EVERY  one  who  knows  even  a  little  about  poultry 
knows  that  the  high  standing  of  the  Leghorn  fowl  can- 
not be  controverted.  This  breed  has  made,  and  holds 
with  tenacity,  a  royal  place  in  the  regard  of  the  poultry 
world.  Nevertheless,  it  has  its  detractors,  its  despisers, 
and  its  legions  of  grumbling  friends,  who  admit  its  value, 
but  decry  the  fact  that  it  is  not  a  general-purpose  bird. 
This,  in  one  sense,  narrows  the  real  rivals  of  the  Ameri- 
can fowls  to  one  variety.  For,  whatever  the  imminent 
future  may  have  to  say  about  the  "Crystal  Whites," 
etc.,  to-day,  the  Buff  Orpington  is  the  only  one  that  can 
rightfully  claim  the  position  of  a  notable  rival  of  our 
own  American-made  birds. 

Despite  the  fact  that  its  first  bid  for  popular  favor  as 
a  distinct  variety  was  made  on  the  reputation  of  its 
predecessor,  the  Black  Orpington,  and  that  it  is  allowed 
to  be  an  English-made  bird,  the  history  of  the  Buff 
Orpington  is,  in  many  senses,  the  history  of  a  scrub. 
The  originator  of  the  Black  Orpington  claimed  to  have 
produced  the  Buff  Orpington,  as  well,  at  his  place  in 
52 


CHIEF  COMPETITORS  OF  AMERICAN  HEN     53 

Kent,  England.  Edward  Brown,  prominent  in  Eng- 
land as  an  authority  on  poultry,  and  lecturer  on  avicul- 
ture at  Reading  University,  refers  to  the  Kent  produc- 
tion as  an  " assumed "  new  breed,  and  says :  "Even  if  we 
accept  the  statement  that  some  of  the  Buff  Orpingtons 
were  produced  in  Kent,  there  is  abundance  of  evidence 
that  the  great  majority  of  present-day  Buffs  are  directly 
bred  from  'Lincolnshire  Buffs,'  without  the  slight- 
est relation  to  Mr.  Cook's  strain."  Like  our  own 
Rhode  Island  Red,  the  "Lincolnshire  Buff"  was  a 
specially  good  type  of  farmers'  fowl,  but  in  a  very 
crude,  shifting  state,  and  not  deserving  the  name  of  a 
breed,  at  the  time  the  Buff  Orpington  was  produced. 
Mr.  Brown  calls  the  Buff  Orpington  "  a  refined  Lincoln- 
shire Buff,"  and  cites  Mr.  Cook's  own  admission  to 
show  that  it  had  none  of  the  blood  of  the  Black  Orping- 
ton, on  whose  breed  name  it  traded.  But  it  is  a  fact 
well  known  to  breeders  that,  a  few  years  after  the  in- 
troduction of  any  variety,  it  becomes  impossible  for 
any  man  to  say  with  authority  just  what  elements  of 
blood  enter  into  its  make-up.  Every  man  who  breeds 
it  may  juggle  with  it,  and  we  know  that  many  fanciers 
do  this  continually  with  all  their  varieties,  in  the  effort 
to  gain  some  desired  point.  In  this  country,  an  English 
breed  soon  loses  some  of  its  former  characteristics,  in 
adapting  itself  to  the  new  environment.  The  first  ex- 
ploiter of  this  particular  variety  has  himself  bred  and 


54        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

pushed  it  in  this  country,  —  a  very  unusual  happening 
to  any  variety.  We  may  therefore  assume  that  our 
Buff  Orpingtons  are  measurably  of  English  type  still, 
except  in  case  the  originator  has  himself  modified  them 
to  make  them  stronger  competitors  of  the  true  American 
type.  I  do  not  say  that  this  has  been  done,  but  it  is  a 
thing  that  would  be  likely  to  occur.  Relative  to  this, 
an  American  woman  once  told  me  that  she  bearded  the 
originator  after  this  fashion :  He  was  giving  her  a  per- 
sonally conducted  view  of  some  of  his  birds,  on  exhibit 
in  New  York's  largest  show,  and  evidently  aiming  to 
make  a  strong  impression.  "  Why,  Mr.  C.,  I  have  cooked 
many  a  better  bird  than  these,"  was  the  unabashed 
comment  of  the  American  poultry  breeder  —  an  expert 
usually  in  what  she  takes  up.  This  might  signify  only 
that  her  ideal  of  the  White  Orpington  (the  bird  in  ques- 
tion) was  different  from  his.  But  at  least  she  believed 
herself  to  be  speaking  to  the  question  of  the  American 
ideal  of  the  White  Orpington. 

Mr.  Brown  says  that  no  variety  has  suffered  more 
from  the  common  tendency  of  breeders  to  exaggerate 
the  characteristics  and  qualities  of  their  favorites,  than 
has  the  Orpington;  clinching  the  statement  by  adding: 
"If  one  tithe  of  what  has  been  said  respecting  them  were 
true,  they  would  deserve  to  be  canonized."  This,  it  is 
to  be  remembered,  is  the  authoritative  word  from  the 
home  of  the  Orpingtons,  England  itself. 


CHIEF  COMPETITORS  OF  AMERICAN  HEN     55 

Nevertheless,  it  appears  that  the  Buff  Orpingtons 
are  making  good  in  this  country,  their  one  notable  failure 
to  fill  the  American  demand  for  a  general-purpose  fowl 
having  to  do  with  the  white  legs.  They  are  a  half 
pound  heavier,  right  through,  than  the  Rocks,  cocks 
going  to  ten  pounds.  In  all  the  essential  points,  the 
Standard  descriptions  of  the  two  breeds  are  virtually 
interchangeable,  the  qualifying  words  "rather"  and 
"moderately"  in  the  Rock  description  permitting 
the  greater  length  and  plumpness  needed  to  get  the 
extra  half  pound  on  the  Orpington.  I  cannot  see  where 
the  Orpington  could  have  the  ghost  of  a  chance  to  prove 
a  victorious  rival  over  our  own  buff  and  red  breeds,  unless 
it  could  establish  conclusively  the  fact  of  being  a  better 
layer.  This  it  has  not  yet  done,  and  it  would  be  a 
most  difficult  venture. 

The  show  records  as  to  numbers  are  an  index  of  one 
kind  of  popularity,  and  in  1909  the  Orpingtons  as  a 
breed  stood  well  toward  the  top,  with  forty-eight 
hundred  and  fifty-nine  specimens  exhibited  in  the 
United  States  and  Canada  during  the  year.  The  three 
favorite  American  breeds  and  the  Leghorns  alone  out- 
classed them.  As  far  back  as  1906,  the  Buffs  alone,  at 
Madison  Square  Garden,  presented  nearly  two  hundred 
specimens  for  the  judges'  consideration.  The  popular- 
ity of  the  Orpingtons  of  the  Buff  variety  in  England 
has  been  attributed  to  their  possession  of  the  rare  com- 


56        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

bination,  white  legs  and  skin,  with  the  characteristic 
of  laying  tinted  eggs.  The  Whites  are  described  as  in 
all  respects  the  same  as  the  Buffs,  except  in  plumage 
and  beak. 

In  this  country  I  think  there  is  little  doubt  that  the 
popularity  of  the  Buff  Orpington  depends  not  so  much 
on  its  professed  superiority  as  upon  the  fact  that, 
being  a  general-purpose  fowl  of  the  type  generally 
suited  to  American  notions  of  a  profitable  fowl,  it  has 
also  been  most  persistently  pushed.  It  is  also  a  hand- 
some, massive  show  bird,  which  fact  always  makes  one 
kind  of  popularity  for  a  variety. 

Such  testimony  as  to  the  comparative  egg  production 
as  is  available  and  counted  fully  reliable  tends  over- 
whelmingly to  place  the  Black  Orpington  in  the  leading 
place,  as  far  as  the  varieties  of  this  breed  are  concerned. 
In  one  of  the  great  competitions  in  the  southern  hemi- 
sphere, Black  Orpingtons  were  backed  by  their  own- 
ers as  ten  to  one,  over  the  Buff  Orpingtons,  as  layers. 
That  is,  nearly  twenty  pens  of  Blacks  were  entered,  and 
but  two  of  Buffs.  The  birds  upheld  their  owners' 
estimate  very  fairly  indeed,  the  one  hundred  and  twenty 
Black  Orpingtons  standing  third  for  the  breed  prize 
and  averaging  above  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight 
eggs  for  the  year.  The  Buffs,  under  the  same  treatment, 
averaged  but  one  hundred  and  fifty-nine,  and  while  this 
is  quite  sufficient  to  put  them  into  the  ranks  of  good 


CHIEF  COMPETITORS  OF  AMERICAN  HEN     57 

layers,  it  does  not  advertise  them  favorably  as  against 
the  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight  average  of  the  Blacks. 
There  were  three  entries  of  Langshan  pens,  which  made 
a  breed  average  of  one  hundred  and  eighty -eight.  A  pen 
of  Langshans  won  first,  and  brought  in  the  most  money, 
but  another  pen  did  so  poorly  as  to  pull  down  the  breed 
average  to  second  place.  One  of  the  things  averred  to 
have  been  shown  by  this  series  of  tests  was  that  the  newer 
breeds  have  not  sufficient  stamina  to  compete  with  the 
older  ones.  I  should  call  this  a  pointer  rather  than  a 
proof,  but  it  may  be  worth  thinking  upon  for  a  bit. 

America  —  and  it  may  be  said  the  whole  world  — 
is  looking  for  a  variety  that  can  outlay  our  present 
birds,  and  do  it  without  loss  in  numbers  of  the  best 
layers.  It  is  of  doubtful  value  to  get  a  variety  that  will 
outlay  existing  sorts,  if  at  the  same  time  the  mortality 
is  heavy.  If  we  cannot  get  this  needed  stamina  in  a 
new  sort,  what  then?  Our  friends  across  the  sea  are 
tentatively  saying  to  us  that  we  are  more  likely  to  find  the 
three-hundred-egg  hen  by  selection  from  older  breeds 
than  by  the  making  of  new  ones  and  claiming  them  to 
be  superior.  But  the  fact  that  a  large  entry  of  Black 
Orpingtons  won  third  place  on  breed  average  some- 
what tends,  in  my  estimation,  to  dispute  this  conclusion, 
since  the  Orpingtons,  though  introduced  some  time 
ago,  still  rank,  by  comparison  with  most  others,  as  a 
"new"  breed. 


58        HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

Since  writing  the  above,  I  am  in  receipt  of  tables 
which  show  statistics  of  Orpington  exhibits  in  our  larger 
shows  for  all  the  years  since  and  including  1901.  These 
make  the  entire  number  of  Orpingtons  shown  (including 
six  varieties  and  an  "any  other  variety"  class)  to  be  well 
toward  four  thousand  birds.  New  York  alone  reported 
nearly  twenty-five  hundred.  New  York,  in  1909, 
alone  reported  four  hundred  and  ninety-six,  which  is 
getting  well  toward  the  numbers  at  the  Crystal  Palace 
show  itself,  in  England.  In  1907,  for  some  reason  not 
known  to  me,  the  exhibit  of  Buffs  at  New  York  fell  far 
below  normal,  while  the  exhibit  of  Blacks  was  higher 
than  in  any  year  before  or  since.  In  all  other  years 
the  Buffs  led,  being  usually  half  more  than  the  Blacks 
and  two  or  three  times  as  many  as  the  Whites.  In 
January,  1909,  there  were  two  hundred  and  twenty- three 
Buffs  shown  at  New  York.  But  the  numbers  shown  at 
Chicago  and  Boston  bear  no  comparison  with  those 
shown  at  New  York.  These  tables  lack  a  part  of  the 
Chicago  records,  but  show,  in  all,  seventeen  hundred 
and  thirty-eight  Buff  Orpingtons  in  the  three  big  shows 
for  the  period  under  consideration. 

If  it  is  possible  for  extra-good  advertising  to  push  a 
variety  to  which  we  oppose  a  pure  American  variety  of 
almost  the  same  color  to  the  point  of  thousands  of  birds 
on  public  exhibition  in  three  shows,  during  less  than  a 
decade,  we  need  to  look  sharply  to  our  advertising.  If 


CHIEF  COMPETITORS   OF  AMERICAN  HEN     59 

we  are,  instead,  to  look  for  this  advance  to  the  quality 
of  the  variety,  we  need  to  look  to  the  quality  of  our  own 
buff  breeds. 

I  am  rather  sure  that  nine  out  of  ten  who  read  these 
words  will  not  have  known,  before  that  reading,  that  an 
American  breeder  and  judge  of  more  than  fifty  years' 
experience  "on  the  inside"  of  our  poultry  history  makes 
the  positive  statement  that,  of  all  our  Wyandottes,  the 
Buffs  not  only  lay  the  greatest  number  of  eggs,  but  the 
largest  eggs.  "They  lay  more  and  larger  eggs  than  do 
any  other  varieties  that  march  under  the  Wyandotte 
banner."  He  also  intimates  that  there  is  much  Rock 
blood  in  many  varieties  of  Wyandottes,  in  some  breeders' 
hands,  in  the  statement:  "The  Pencilled,  the  Partridge, 
the  Buff,  the  White  Rocks,  and  the  Black  Javas  that 
come  rose-combed  are  called  Wyandottes." 

Since  we  have  such  an  American  variety,  in  the  fa- 
vorite buff  color  and  the  favorite  American  type,  to  op- 
pose to  this  competitor,  which  has  proven  itself  either 
very  strong  or  in  strong  hands  (speaking  commer- 
cially), we  certainly  ought  not  to  fear  such  competition, 
provided  that  we  make  full  use  of  our  lead  and  our  op- 
portunity. 


THE  FIVE-DOLLAR-A-YEAR  HEN 

The  Rose  Comb  Brown  Leghorn  made  Her  Record  for  this 
Breed-appellation  —  Her  Merit  —  Her  Popularity  —  Her  Im- 
portance 

AT  the  present  writing,  the  poultry  periodicals  gener- 
ally are  carrying  a  modern  advertisement  claiming  that 
it  is  easily  possible  to  make  a  large  flock  of  hens  aver- 
age more  than  seven  dollars  a  year,  and  that  it  has  been 
thus  easily  done.  But  the  fact  remains  that  a  widely- 
heralded  test,  with  the  best  breeds  of  the  world  in  com- 
petition, was  unable  to  reach  this  distinction.  The 
eyes  of  the  world  were  upon  the  affair,  and  all  closely- 
interested  men  ready  to  herald  to  the  world  such 
success  as  might  be  achieved,  yet  $5.27  was  the  highest 
record  profit,  at  market  prices.  This  actual  record 
breed-laying  was  done  by  the  Rose  Comb  Brown  Leg- 
horns (only  a  few  of  these  being  in  competition),  and 
the  record  made  was  $5.27  above  cost  of  feed.  It  was 
stated  at  that  time  that  the  actual  cost  of  feed  for  this 
breed  was  just  about  half  the  average  cost  per  pen.  At 
the  end  of  the  fifth  competition,  with  hundreds  of  birds 
of  all  breeds  in  the  test,  the  average  profit  for  all  the 
60 


THE   FIVE-DOLLAR-A-YEAR   HEN          61 

hens  had  not  passed,  in  any  one  year,  above  $2.91. 
This  report  of  averages  was  first  published  in  this 
country,  I  believe,  in  July,  1907.  The  year  that  the 
Rose  Comb  Brown  Leghorns  made  this  breed  record, 
the  Silver  Wyandottes  made  their  high  average  pen 
record  of  two  hundred  and  eighteen.  Our  own  Bureau 
of  Animal  Industry  in  its  report  noted  those  records, 
saying :  "The  winner,  from  an  economic  point  of  view, 
however,  was  a  pen  of  Brown  Leghorns  from  America. 
They  averaged  over  two  hundred  eggs  per  hen,  and  as 
profit-givers  stood  alone,  as  they  produced  their  great 
tally  of  eggs  on  half  the  average  quantity  of  food  con- 
sumed." 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  Leghorn  fowls  stand  even 
higher  in  public  estimation  as  egg  layers  at  the  present 
time  than  has  ever  been  the  case  at  any  time  previous. 
In  the  recent  two-year  Australian  competition,  White 
Leghorns  took  a  decided  lead.  It  has  been  said  that 
fowls  are  more  prolific  in  England,  and  probably  also 
in  Australia,  than  here.  And  Mr.  Purvis,  who  spent  a 
good  many  months  with  his  finger  on  the  pulse  of 
poultry  raising  on  the  Pacific  coast  while  residing  there 
temporarily,  has  predicted  that  if  this  record  is  ever 
equalled  in  this  country,  it  will  be  by  Pacific  coast  hens. 
It  is  worthy  of  note  that  during  the  one  year  of  the  series 
of  Australian  tests  that  was  distinctly  unfavorable 
as  to  weather,  the  Silver  Wyandottes  won.  Professor 


62        HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

Thompson  stated  his  belief  that  in  unfavorable  seasons 
the  Wyandottes  and  Langshans  would  be  found  equal 
to  the  Leghorns,  as  a  general  proposition.  In  his  opin- 
ion, his  tests  narrowed  the  list  of  "best"  breeds  down 
to  Leghorns,  Wyandottes,  Orpingtons,  and  Langshans, 
with  not  all  the  varieties  in  these  breeds  favored. 
"Laying  strains  should  not  be  perpetuated,  and  bad 
strains  for  ovarian  weakness  should  not  be  bred  from," 
is  his  dictum.  The  first  half  of  it  is  pretty  sweeping, 
and  the  fight  is  likely  to  rage  long  around  this  point. 
There  is  one  man  in  this  country  who  has  reduced  his 
convictions  on  this  head  to  a  working  formula.  He  is 
now  manager  of  a  plant  carrying  a  good  many  thousands 
of  hens,  and  he  states  his  position  thus:  "It  is  an  error 
to  breed  from  an  'abnormal'  hen.  By  'abnormal,' 
I  mean  a  hen  whose  laying  record  is  far  removed  from 
the  average  ('normal')  of  the  flock  of  which  she  is  a 
member.  When  our  flock  average  for  last  year  was 
one  hundred  and  sixty-two  eggs  per  hen,  we  considered 
all  hens  varying  more  than  ten  per  cent  from  the  record 
'abnormal.'  This  applied  to  those  laying  above,  as 
well  as  those  laying  below  the  average,  and  we  considered 
hens  laying  uniform  eggs  between  the  numbers  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy  and  one  hundred  and  eighty  the  best 
breeders  in  the  flock."  Mr.  Ellis's  experiment  is  on  a 
large  scale,  and  primarily  for  business  development, 
rather  than  to  affect  an  open-mouthed  public.  Never- 


THE   FIVE-DOLLAR-A-YEAR  HEN  63 

theless,  the  public  will  sit  up  and  take  notice  of  such 
results  as  he  may  report. 

I  have  been  breeding  fancy  stock,  in  a  good  many 
breeds,  for  a  period  of  between  twenty  and  thirty  years, 
and  I  have  not  yet  seen  a  breed  that  has  been  able  to 
push  the  Rose  Comb  Brown  Leghorn  out  of  my  yards. 
Grumblers  will  grumble  that  she  is  not  large  enough. 
This  point  is  well  taken,  if  heavy  roasters  are  wanted, 
for  the  females  seldom  go  above  four  and  one-half 
pounds,  and  the  average  of  good  hens  will  probably  be 
near  four  pounds.  But  the  carcass  is  so  plump,  at 
every  age,  and  the  flesh  so  well  distributed  on  this  round 
body,  that  this  variety  makes  the  very  best  bird  I  know 
of  for  the  small  family  dinner.  The  quality  is  of  the 
very  best,  and,  in  our  own  family,  this  is  always  the 
favorite  kind  for  table  use.  If  it  is  a  Rose  Comb  Brown 
Leghorn,  there  is  never  a  question  but  that  it  will  be 
good.  I  sell  the  birds  to  private  custom  with  more  con- 
fidence than  is  the  case  with  any  other  variety.  And 
whatever  be  the  case  with  other  trade,  in  our  own  pri- 
vate custom  the  call  is  nearly  always  for  a  bird  not  far 
from  four  pounds  in  weight.  Roasters  would  prob- 
ably run  a  little  heavier,  but  we  have  much  more  call 
for  "  fricassee  chickens  "  than  for  roasters.  And  this 
call  the  Rose  Comb  Brown  Leghorn  can  meet  most 
admirably.  We  never  carry  either  the  general-purpose 
fowl  or  the  Leghorn  alone,  as  each  supplements  the  other 
to  some  extent. 


64        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

The  "  five-dollar-a-year  fowl,"  however,  does  not 
make  her  real  fight  for  public  favor  on  her  own  market 
value,  but  on  the  number  and  size  of  the  eggs  which 
she  produces.  These  have  averaged,  in  confinement, 
larger  in  size  and  greater  in  numbers  than  those  of  most 
of  the  other  breeds  we  have  handled.  It  is  possible 
that  the  Columbian  Wyandotte  will  push  her  to  the 
wall,  but  she  has  not  yet  been  able  to  do  it.  The  little 
"Brownie"  lays  an  egg  that  averages  considerably 
larger  than  that  of  the  Columbian,  though  the  latter 
should  be,  on  the  average,  more  than  two  pounds 
heavier  in  body.  It  is  considered  a  white  egg,  though  it 
does  not  show  the  chalky  whiteness  of  the  eggs  of  some 
of  the  White  Leghorns.  And  it  is  produced  in  such 
numbers  that  most  buyers  take  the  trouble  to  write 
and  express  their  enthusiasm  as  to  the  value  of  the  Rose 
Comb  Brown  Leghorn. 

Although  now  shown  in  very  goodly  numbers,  the 
Rose  Comb  Brown  Leghorn  makes  very  little  ripple 
as  a  fancy  fowl.  It  would  not  be  necessary  for  her  to 
enter  this  field  at  all,  but  that  the  variety  clubs  and  the 
show  lists  form  a  sort  of  publicity  bureau  for  all  breeds, 
that  can  ill  be  spared.  It  is  of  little  moment  to  the 
world  at  large  that  any  variety  should  have  so  many 
points  of  merit  as  this  one,  if  the  world  knows  nothing 
of  the  facts.  There  are  no  breeders  more  enthusiastic 
than  those  who  hold  to  this  variety,  but  their  enthusiasm 


THE   FIVE-DOLLAR-A-YEAR  HEN          65 

comes  primarily  from  a  knowledge  of  her  performances, 
rather  than  a  belief  that  all  the  world  should  give  the 
"Brownie"  the  palm  as  a  fancy  fowl.  Yet  the  color- 
ing, in  fine  specimens,  is  always  noticed  by  visitors 
with  words  of  much  admiration,  and  the  finer  pencil- 
ling and  other  points  are  difficult  to  get.  Despite  this, 
the  average  worth  of  all  specimens  bred  is  really  high, 
so  that  one  who  is  not  breeding  to  exhibition  form  need 
throw  out  very  few  specimens,  if  he  have  a  good  strain. 
Like  other  Leghorns,  they  are  not  so  well  suited  for 
early  winter  laying  as  are  the  American  breeds,  notably 
the  Columbian  Wyandotte. 

The  chicks  are  admitted  by  all  who  see  them  to  be 
"the  dearest  ever,"  and  they  are  almost  exactly  like 
little  partridges.  Though  appearing  much  like  the 
Partridge  Wyandotte  chicks,  except  as  to  form,  they 
are  much  prettier  about  the  head.  This  is  as  it  should 
be,  since  the  head  points  of  a  show  Leghorn  have  large 
value,  in  proportion  to  the  rest  of  the  body. 

From  no  other  buyers  have  I  had  so  many  enthusiastic 
letters  as  from  the  buyers  of  Rose  Comb  Brown  Leg- 
horns. I  might  probably  except  the  buyers  of  Indian 
Runner  ducks,  but  the  Runners  are  so  new  to  this  coun- 
try that  the  comparison  can  hardly  be  made.  There 
is  always  something  peculiarly  attractive  in  a  pullet 
just  at  laying  maturity,  but  no  other  pullets  have  been 
so  cherished  here  as  the  graceful,  sprightly  Leghorn 


66        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

pullets.  And,  although  the  Leghorn  has  the  reputation 
of  being  very  nervous  and  wild,  she  becomes  most 
friendly  and  confidential  with  a  calm-natured,  quiet 
owner. 

The  five-dollar-a-year  hen  becomes  of  greater 
importance  with  the  advent  of  higher  prices  for  feed, 
than  she  has  ever  been  before.  For,  while  it  is  always 
joyful  to  take  in  a  goodly  income,  it  is  a  necessity  that 
it  shall  represent  a  paying  margin  above  cost  of  feed. 
The  hundreds  of  hens  in  the  earlier  Australian  tests  — 
notably  the  first,  when  they  averaged  but  little  above 
a  two-dollar  annual  income,  would  stand  condemned 
in  the  face  of  the  two-dollar  average  outgo  which  so 
often  goes  with  present  high  prices  for  feed.  When  feed 
cost  but  a  dollar  a  year,  they  would  still  have  been  con- 
sidered profitable.  When  the  cost  of  keeping  doubles, 
as  it  has  in  the  past  few  years,  it  becomes  a  necessity 
to  have  a  bird  that  can  produce  a  greater  income.  And 
it  behooves  one  who  would  make  money  from  market 
eggs  and  poultry  to  be  very  careful  in  the  choice  of  a 
breed. 

Although  the  Rose  Comb  Brown  Leghorn  does  not 
fall  strictly  in  the  American  class,  she  is  more  nearly 
like  the  American  breeds,  such  as  the  Wyandotte,  than 
any  other  familiar  to  me  and  not  in  the  American  class. 
She  may  almost  be  called  American-made,  since  our 
breeders  have  developed  her  very  largely  from  the 


THE   FIVE-DOLLAR-A-YEAR  HEN          67 

Single  Comb  variety,  and  she  is  somewhat  better 
suited  to  our  climate.  The  chicks  do  better  on  range 
than  when  raised  in  confinement  on  bare  ground,  but 
that  is  probably  true  of  the  chicks  of  every  variety. 
The  hens,  on  the  contrary,  thrive  and  produce  well  in 
confinement,  giving  eggs  high  in  fertility,  that  will 
produce  good  chicks.  They  always  keep  in  the 
handsomest  of  feather,  except  during  a  brief  period  at 
the  end  of  the  moulting  year,  and  there  is  no  known 
breed,  I  think,  that  will  keep  in  such  uniform  good 
condition  as  to  dress,  when  kept  in  constant  confine- 
ment in  bare  yards.  Although  the  raisers  of  the  large 
exhibition  breeds  are  loath  to  admit  it,  the  Rose  Comb 
Brown  Leghorn  is  really  a  "world-beater." 

This  variety  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  to  photograph 
with  good  results,  for  two  reasons :  the  sprightliness  of 
the  birds,  and  the  color  combination,  which  is  one  that 
does  not  "take"  well.  Still,  some  very  fair  pictures 
have  been  made  of  the  Brownies,  by  those  whose  pa- 
tience is  almost  limitless.  Few  others  can  succeed  in 
this  difficult  attempt. 


IMPROVING   THE   AMERICAN  HEN 

Ideals  —  Government  Introduction  of  new  Breeds — Faults  of 
Rocks  and  Reds  —  The  Wyandotte  as  a  Basis  for  Improve- 
ment 

As  long  as  there  is  any  Yankee  blood  left  in  living 
Americans,  so  long,  at  least,  there  will  be  continued 
efforts  to  improve  what  is  even  now  regarded  as  al- 
most up  to  the  ideal.  If  the  present "  ideal "  is  reached, 
all  that  needs  to  be  done  is  to  set  up  a  higher  ideal ! 
Most  of  the  aspiration  in  late  years  has  looked  toward 
the  production  of  a  breed,  or  strains  of  existing  breeds, 
that  will  be  worthy  the  name  of  "two-hundred-egg 
hens."  The  United  States  Government,  in  collabora- 
tion with  the  Maine  Experiment  Station,  has  been  at 
work  along  this  line  for  ten  consecutive  years.  In  its 
last  report,  it  announces  failure  along  previous  lines  of 
work,  but  announces  also  that  it  will  work  henceforth 
along  a  line  of  more  strict  selection  of  both  parents, 
especially  as  to  ancestry.  It  proposes  to  introduce  new 
blood  of  the  same  variety  into  the  birds  now  at  the  Sta- 
tion, and  also  to  cross  birds  of  other  pure  breeds  on  the 
Station  stock  of  Plymouth  Rocks  (Barred).  Any  that 
show  up  well  "will  be  retained  and  bred  further." 

68 


IMPROVING   THE   AMERICAN   HEN         69 

Between  our  average  production  of  about  seventy-two 
eggs  annually  per  hen  (1900  census),  and  the  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty-one  secured  from  a  single  very  special  speci- 
men at  the  Maine  Station  during  the  cooperative  work, 
there  is  a  wide  stretch.  The  problem,  as  it  presents 
itself  at  present,  is  to  raise  the  very  low  average  of 
seventy-two  or  less,  up  toward  (to?)  the  very  special 
two  hundred  and  fifty.  The  Government  has  taken 
as  a  basis  of  effort  the  breed  already  most  satisfactory 
to  the  people  of  this  country  in  general,  although  it  is 
not  the  variety  having  the  best  average  of  unusually 
high  reported  records.  But  as  yet  in  ten  years  "there 
has  been  no  increase  in  average  egg  production." 
(See  1908  Report.) 

According  to  the  present  popular  demand  among 
American  poultry  raisers,  —  among  whom  the  prac- 
tical class  is,  of  course,  in  the  tremendous  majority,  — 
practical  points  count  first.  It  is  asked  that  the  birds 
which  are  to  distance  those  already  well  known  shall  be, 
possibly,  of  a  little  higher  grade  of  table  quality,  a  little 
better  breeders  than  some  of  them  now  are,  and  that 
they  shall  increase  in  laying  probabilities  and  actualities 
just  as  much  as  may  ultimately  be  found  possible. 
If  it  were  possible  to  produce  a  hen  that  would  lay 
three  hundred  and  sixty-five  eggs  a  year,  I  think  about 
ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred  poultry  keepers  would  be 
satisfied ! 


70         HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

The  general  grower  of  poultry  cares  little  about 
breeds,  new  or  old,  if  he  can  get  such  a  bird  as  he  wants. 
But  the  immense  quantity  of  poultry  literature,  espe- 
cially in  periodical  form,  which  is  now  being  broad- 
casted throughout  the  country,  leads  continually  to  a 
better  knowledge  of  existing  breeds,  existing  conditions, 
and  existing  desires.  One  of  the  desires  that  is  inherent 
is  the  desire  to  see  what  one  can  do  with  the  existent, 
in  the  way  of  betterment.  And  it  is  always  assumed 
that  the  resultant  of  effort  will  be  betterment.  More 
than  this;  it  is  almost  universally  asserted  that  it  is 
betterment,  when  it  may  be  really  the  reverse,  but 
giving  better  results  by  reason  of  the  special  interest 
taken  and  special  resulting  care  given. 

Among  fanciers  in  general,  however,  it  is  very  gener- 
ally believed  that  the  nearly  one  hundred  varieties  of 
hens  alone  now  recognized  by  the  American  Standard 
of  Perfection  are  decidedly  more  than  enough;  espe- 
cially as  so  small  a  proportion  of  them  are  really  entitled 
to  be  called  popular.  About  one-third  the  American 
varieties,  one  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  one  of  the  Eng- 
lish, are  about  all  of  the  present  Standard  varieties  which 
can  be  strictly  termed  widely  popular  here.  There  are, 
possibly,  another  dozen  of  varieties  which  would  keenly 
resent  being  left  out  of  the  first  class,  and  which  have 
a  really  strong  following  among  us.  But  this  still 
leaves  more  than  three-fourths  of  the  present  sorts  in 


IMPROVING   THE   AMERICAN   HEN         71 

the  list  of  those  we  might  be  about  as  well  off  without, 
were  it  not  for  the  life  which  large  variety  gives  to  the 
exhibitions  of  fancy  stock. 

It  is  a  fact,  however,  that  in  spite  of  the  wide  feeling 
against  the  desirability  of  introducing  new  breeds,  our 
own  Government  is  planning  to  enter  the  field  of  intro- 
ducing such  breeds,  provided  it  finds  something  really 
worth  while.  The  production  of  a  breed  or  variety  of 
more  practical  value  than  anything  which  we  now  have 
is  the  only  logical  excuse  for  introducing  more  breeds. 
And  I  have  been  cogitating  somewhat  over  the  ques- 
tion whether  it  might  not  be  well,  in  the  future,  to 
restrict  such  output  of  new  breeds  entirely  to  Govern- 
ment workers,  and  their  collaborators.  Since  every 
other  individual  is  quite  sure  to  be  suspected  of  having 
an  axe  to  grind,  official  recognition  by  a  perfectly  dis- 
interested source  is  the  only  method  that  can  save  the 
poultry  raisers  of  the  country  from  spending  much 
hard-earned  money  in  finding  out  how  far  the  claims  of 
any  new  variety  or  breed  may  be  sustained  in  actual 
trial.  For  instance,  there  is  just  aiming  to  get  itself 
into  the  lime-light  of  general  public  notice  a  breed 
which  claims  to  have  "a  record"  of  three  hundred  eggs 
per  year.  In  order  to  find  out  whether  or  not  these 
marvellous  claims  are  true,  every  one  interested  (and 
what  poultry  raiser  can  help  being,  if  he  believes  there 
is  a  chance  of  getting  a  three-hundred-egg  hen?)  must 


72         HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

pay  out  a  snug  little  amount  for  trial  stock  or  eggs.  It 
would  seem  that  a  breed  introduced  in  the  above  way 
might  become  popular  in  a  much  shorter  time  than  if 
entering  commerce  after  the  present  fashion;  for  the 
Government  bulletins  go  everywhere,  and  as  a  rule 
their  brief,  unbiassed  descriptions  carry  a  conviction 
which  subscription  papers  and  advertisements  cannot 
hope  to  emulate.  The  power  of  an  advertisement,  as  a 
rule,  consists  in  making  a  claim  to  desired  character- 
istics, and  repeating  that  claim  till  repetition  has  worn 
a  channel  for  belief  in  the  reader's  consciousness. 

The  positions  of  the  exploiter  of  a  breed,  and  the  one 
who  has  it  under  consideration  with  a  thought  of  buying, 
are  in  many  respects  radically  different.  The  owner 
looks  continually  at  its  good  qualities,  and  refuses  to 
admit,  even  to  himself,  that  it  may  have  serious  faults. 
For  how  could  he  carry  conviction  to  the  buyer  at  all, 
if  he  believed  his  stock  to  be  of  little  value  ?  The  con- 
sidering buyer,  on  the  contrary,  wants  to  know  the 
worst  about  the  variety,  and  he  is  likely  to  discount  the 
owner's  statements  as  to  its  best.  Imitating  the  pro- 
spective buyer,  let  us  look  a  bit  at  the  various  American 
breeds,  and  note  what  points  call  for  betterment,  and 
guess,  if  we  can,  what  changes  the  average  poultry 
raiser  would  try  to  make,  were  he  aiming  to  "improve" 
upon  existing  American  varieties.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
this  is  just  about  what  every  breeder  would  be  doing,  if 


IMPROVING   THE  AMERICAN   HEN         73 

he  saw  his  way  clear.  And  this,  despite  the  almost 
universal  advice  from  experts  to  let  crossing  alone. 

Improvement  by  selection  is  always  legitimate  and 
possible,  and  it  is  practised  by  every  breeder  or  poultry 
raiser  worthy  of  his  opportunities.  Crossing  pure 
varieties  in  order  to  make  others  is  another  matter. 
Yet  it  is  affirmed  that  it  was  deliberate  intention  and 
planned  crossing  to  get  desired  qualities  that  produced 
the  only  English  breed  that  has  made  any  headway 
against  the  Amerian  sorts  in  this  country.  The  Black 
Orpington,  thus  produced,  has  many  enthusiastic 
breeders,  and,  as  it  is  one  of  the  more  recent  breeds,  this 
is  really  a  very  strong  argument  for  trying  yet  again, 
in  the  effort  to  get  a  still  better  one,  on  much  the  same 
line  of  procedure. 

The  well-established  old  Plymouth  Rock  — what 
faults  prevent  it  from  being  thoroughly  satisfactory? 
And  is  it  not  straining  a  point  to  criticise  a  breed  that 
has  established  itself  by  sheer  force  of  merit  from  the 
lakes  to  the  gulf,  from  one  ocean  to  the  other?  Most 
certainly  it  is  not :  for  even  the  greatest  admirers  of  this 
most  popular  variety  will  admit,  if  you  catch  them  at 
the  psychological  moment,  that  the  breed  has  faults. 
Some  of  these  faults  have  been  partially  overcome  in 
some  strains  by  selection.  But  in  the  great  raft  of 
these  birds  throughout  our  land  they  still  exist,  and  in 
some  they  have  become  intensified.  I  don't  think  I 


74        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

ever  knew  a  man  of  average  interest  in  poultry  raising, 
no  matter  if  he  raised  Rocks  only  and  could  not  be  in- 
duced to  raise  any  other  existing  breed,  who  did  not 
grumble  about  the  Rocks  because  of  a  few  exasperat- 
ing defects  in  an  otherwise  satisfactory  fowl.  One  of 
these  faults  is  the  extreme  tendency  toward  sitting; 
another,  the  tendency  to  lay  on  internal  fat;  a  third, 
the  slabbiness  of  the  growing  chick,  after  it  begins  to 
stretch  up. 

The  demands  of  the  market  and  the  color  preferences 
of  individuals  work  together  to  narrow  the  really  popu- 
lar fowls  down  to  those  of  three  colors,  —  white,  red,  and 
buff.  White  and  black  in  combination  has  a  good  fol- 
lowing, where  the  market  is  not  finical,  and  the  Barred 
Rock  has  advanced  in  spite  of  the  overwhelming  prefer- 
ence for  white.  On  the  farms,  where  large  vermin  of 
all  sorts  make  war  upon  the  poultry,  the  mixed  color 
of  the  Barred  Rock  is  one  of  its  strong  points.  But 
a  black-  or  other  than  yellow-legged  fowl  has  small 
chance  for  popularity  here.  Perhaps  this  has  kept  the 
Javas  out  of  the  running,  since  they  are  universally  ad- 
mitted, where  known,  to  be  good  birds  —  many  say 
better  than  any  of  the  Rocks.  The  Rhode  Island  Reds, 
the  Buckeyes,  and  many  varieties  of  the  Wyandottes 
are  not  old  enough  to  have  fully  proved  what  their 
place  will  eventually  be,  but  we  can  forecast  this  with 
fair  accuracy  through  knowing  their  color.  The  Buck- 


IMPROVING  THE  AMERICAN   HEN         75 

eyes  will  make  a  place  for  themselves  on  merit  and  color, 
if  the  breeders  do  not  spoil  them  in  the  making.  Their 
defects  are :  too  long  legs,  too  strong  a  sitting  tendency, 
unreliability  as  to  hardiness.  Some  types  are  very 
hardy;  others  as  far  the  other  way.  This  delicacy 
will  probably  disappear,  as  their  numbers  grow  greater, 
color  better,  and  inbreeding  less. 

In  Mr.  J.  H.  Robinson's  book,  the  edition  of  1899, 
now  just  ten  years  old,  he  said  of  the  Rhode  Island 
Reds:  "They  are  only  locally  popular,  but  are  becom- 
ing celebrated  for  hardiness  and  prolific  laying.  In 
meat  qualities  they  are  considered  inferior  to  the 
other  American  varieties."  We  look  back  in  amaze- 
ment as  we  realize  that  it  is  only  ten  years  since  this 
now  well-liked  and  well-disseminated  breed  occupied 
such  an  uncertain  outlook.  But  the  breed  has  had 
plenty  of  "push"  behind  it;  its  hardiness  and  other 
good  qualities  have  spoken  loudly  in  its  favor,  and  its 
color  is  universally  admired.  That  is  to  say,  the  color 
of  the  best  specimens  in  the  shows  is  admired.  In 
general  hands,  the  breed  is  sadly  mongrel-like  in 
color,  only  an  occasional  bird  showing  the  beautiful, 
ideal  red.  Even  what  it  has,  some  say,  it  got,  in  part, 
from  the  Buckeyes.  Perhaps  there  are  few  breeds 
which,  being  adventured  on  because  of  beauty,  could 
prove  so  very  disappointing  in  average  hands.  I  have 
almost  never  seen  a  novice  breeder  of  Rhode  Island 


76        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

Reds  with  a  decent  looking  flock.  One  woman,  who 
bought  one  hundred  eggs  of  a  good  breeder,  did  get  a 
very  fair  bunch;  but  the  general  custom  is  to  buy 
only  a  sitting,  when  making  first  trial  of  a  breed,  and 
this  gives  small  chance  for  selection.  The  usual  out- 
come of  this  situation  is  that  most  of  the  culls  become 
a  part  of  the  new  breeding  flock,  with  disastrous  re- 
sults. And  such  methods  affect  a  comparatively  new 
breed  worse  than  an  established  one.  The  chicks  of 
this  breed  —  Rhode  Island  Red  —  are  such  greedy 
feeders  that  they  are  quite  subject  to  indigestion,  and 
a  brood  sometimes  "goes  off"  almost  without  warn- 
ing. The  fowls  are  quite  subject  to  roup,  and,  it 
seemed  to  me,  more  subject  to  "going  light"  than 
many  others.  This,  too,  may  possibly  be  traced  to 
their  greedy  habits  of  eating. 

The  White  Rock  has  made  a  strong  bid  for  public 
favor,  and  those  who  predict  that  this  variety  will  in 
time  be  the  most  popular  one  in  the  country,  have  a 
good  basis  in  the  facts.  At  present  the  White  Wyan- 
dotte  stands  much  higher  in  popularity,  and  it  is  the 
nearest  to  the  American  ideal  of  any  bird  now  known. 
Ten  years  ago  it  was  classed,  although  then  still 
rather  new,  as  the  most  formidable  competitor  the  Plym- 
outh Rock  had  ever  had  to  meet.  To-day,  it  stands 
much  higher  in  popular  favor  than  it  did  then.  As  to 
form  and  carcass,  it  is  very  near  our  ideal.  It  is  an 


IMPROVING  THE  AMERICAN   HEN         77 

excellent  winter  layer,  but  it  does  not  equal  its  prede- 
cessor, the  Silver  Wyandotte,  as  a  layer,  and  it  is  a 
rather  indifferent  breeder.  That  is,  it  demands  small 
numbers  of  females  to  one  male,  and  it  does  not  hatch 
as  well  as  one  would  like  it  to  do,  unless  on  range  under 
the  most  ideal  conditions.  The  eggs  are  not  quite  as 
large  as  we  would  like,  nor  so  uniform  in  color,  although 
selection  is  improving  them  along  these  lines  very 
rapidly.  And,  although  it  is  of  about  the  right  size, 
it  matures  a  little  too  early  for  soft  roasters  of  good 
weight.  However,  the  eyes  of  American  breeders  are 
at  present  strained  most  intently  in  the  direction  of  a 
heavier-laying  bird  than  we  have  at  present,  and,  if 
we  could  get  that,  even  without  any  other  great  im- 
provement in  the  popular  American  varieties,  we 
would  not  need  to  complain  much.  This  is  a  very 
strong  point,  for  a  poor  layer  must  have  a  maintenance 
ration  even  as  a  good  one,  and  the  increasing  price 
of  feeds  for  some  years  past  makes  it  seem  almost 
imperative  that  the  income  be  also  increased.  All  the 
increase  in  laying  beyond  present  possibilities  in  aver- 
age hands  would  be  so  much  clear  profit  the  more, 
after  allowance  is  made  for  feed. 

It  has  been  my  conviction  for  some  years  that  the 
desired  advance  must  come  through  the  union  of  the 
Wyandotte  with  one  of  the  breeds  in  which  the  egg- 
producing  instinct  has  been  strong  for  many  genera- 


78        HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

tions.  Doubtless  the  Leghorn  is  the  best  example  of 
such  a  breed.  The  Brown  Leghorn  is  considered  the 
most  widely  distributed  variety,  and  there  are,  I  think, 
few  farmyards,  where  traces  of  it  may  not  be  found. 
The  Rose  Comb  variety  matches  best  with  the  rose 
comb  of  the  Wyandotte,  and  a  cross  of  these  two 
varieties,  the  Rose  Comb  Brown  on  the  Wyandotte, 
perhaps  the  Buff  variety,  would  be  fairly  suitable. 
This  cross,  bred  back  from  this  point  on  the  pure  Buff 
Wyandotte  or  even  in  time  to  white,  ought  to  give  us 
a  little  nearer  the  ideal  American  bird  than  anything 
we  have  at  the  present  time,  good  as  are  the  present 
American  varieties.  At  least,  if  I  were  to  make  an 
attempt  to  improve  the  American  breeds,  something 
like  this  would  be  my  mode  of  procedure.  This  cross, 
if  selected  carefully  to  Wyandotte  type  and  the  solid 
color,  would  become  virtually  an  improved  Wyandotte, 
having  the  additional  laying  capacity  which  all  desire, 
and,  it  may  be,  a  better  and  a  trifle  plumper  carcass, 
since  the  Rose  Comb  Brown  Leghorn  is  a  most  excel- 
lent market  bird,  barring  the  small  size  and  dark  pin- 
feathers. 


QUALITY  AND  NUMBERS  AT  THE  SHOWS 

In  the  "  Waste-basket "  —  Numbers  of  American  Varieties 
—  Comparative  Showroom  Values  —  the  Newest  Breed  — 
Beauty  of  Feather 

AT  our  fancy  poultry  exhibitions  may  be  found  a 
sort  of  waste-basket  arrangement  known  as  "the  any- 
other-variety  class"  —  a  class  despised  of  exhibitors  — 
into  which  many  a  breed  or  variety,  not  yet  strong  enough 
to  command  a  class,  is  liable  to  fall.  Many  a  breed  has 
made  its  first  appearance  here.  The  show  catalogues 
and  reports  offer  a  half-reminder  of  this  waste-basket 
in  the  way  the  breeds  are  handled.  Attention  is  fo- 
cussed  on  about  a  half-dozen  varieties,  and  the  rest  are 
treated,  in  some  sort,  as  "any-other- varieties."  All 
the  elaboration,  in  the  reports,  all  the  special  atten- 
tion, is  given  to  less  than  a  half-dozen  breeds.  A 
single  brief  paragraph  taken  from  the  report  of  the 
New  York  show  for  1909,  in  one  of  the  foremost  poultry 
papers,  will  show  this  tendency  accurately:  "This 
show  seemed,  more  than  ever,  strong  in  the  general- 
purpose  class  of  fowls.  It  was  the  Plymouth  Rocks, 
Wyandottes,  Reds,  and  Orpingtons  that  furnished  the 
big  classes.  Many  other  classes  were  fairly  repre- 
79 


8o        HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

sented,  and  quality  good,  but  few  were  strong  in 
numbers.  Barred  Plymouth  Rocks  were  the  largest 
class." 

If  anything  were  needed  to  establish  the  claim  of 
the  American  hen  to  consideration,  the  merest  glance 
at  this  list  would  furnish  it.  For  it  will  be  instantly 
noted  that  of  the  four  breeds  in  this  bunch  of  leaders 
three  are  in  the  American  class,  while  the  fourth  is  the 
strongest  competitor  of  "  American  "  breeds.  The  con- 
tention is  proven  without  effort  and  without  any  suc- 
cessful chance  to  even  oppose  it.  And,  while  it  was 
affirmed  that  the  Plymouth  Rocks  led  all  breeds  and 
varieties,  I  noticed  at  the  show  that  the  Columbian 
Wyandottes,  though  not  second  in  numbers,  appeared 
to  be  second  in  attracting  and  holding  general  interest. 
This  is  a  rather  remarkable  showing  for  a  variety 
almost  new  and  in  a  show  numbering  so  many  varieties 
and  such  large  exhibits. 

In  order  to  get  a  little  glimpse  into  the  near  past, 
I  picked  up  two  catalogues  of  the  New  York  show 
in  recent  years,  just  the  ones  I  chanced  to  have  at 
hand.  They  were  for  1904  and  1906.  The  number  of 
exhibits  has  run  from  three  thousand  up  for  some  time, 
and  the  1906  catalogue  numbered  fifty-six  hundred 
and  eighty-nine  exhibits,  including  pet  stock,  poultry 
supplies,  etc.  But  No.  3608  was  reached  before  the 
lists  began  on  pigeons,  which  always  number  largely. 


QUALITY  AND  NUMBERS  AT  THE  SHOWS     81 

In  1904  the  Wyandottes  led,  there  being  nearly  six 
hundred  birds  of  this  breed,  two  hundred  of  which 
were  in  the  breeding-pens.  The  Silvers,  Whites,  Buffs, 
Blacks,  Silver  Pencilleds,  Partridges,  and  Columbians 
all  pushed  together  to  roll  up  this  big  exhibit  for  the 
breed.  The  Plymouth  Rocks  mustered  something 
over  four  hundred  in  number,  while  the  Rhode  Island 
Reds  had  just  short  of  one  hundred  representatives. 

In  1906,  the  tide  of  competitive  interest  was  run- 
ning strong,  the  Rock  breeders  had  their  grit  up,  and 
the  list  of  Rocks  in  all  the  varieties  counted  up  the 
astounding  number  of  nine  hundred  and  fifty  speci- 
mens in  this  one  leading  show.  Of  these,  about  four 
hundred  and  sixty-eight  were  of  the  Barred  variety, 
two  hundred  and  sixty-nine  of  the  White  variety.  The 
Wyandottes,  all  told,  went  nearly  to  eight  hundred 
specimens,  there  being  three  hundred  and  thirty-nine 
of  the  popular  White  Wyandottes.  The  Rhode  Island 
Reds  were  far  behind  these,  though  far  ahead  of  most 
of  the  other  breeds,  reaching  something  over  two  hun- 
dred in  number,  and  the  classes  generally  being  quite 
as  large  as  the  ordinary  fancier  cares  to  meet.  A 
breed  like  the  Reds,  having  but  two  varieties,  naturally 
labors  under  a  disadvantage  when  breed  numbers  are 
counted,  as  against  a  breed  like  the  Wyandottes, 
numbering  eight  well-liked  varieties,  or  the  Rocks, 
which  are  getting  to  be  a  close  second  in  this  line. 


82         HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

"Interest"  flows  in  two  streams  at  such  an  exhibi- 
tion. One  of  these  is  commercial,  the  other  is  merely 
sentimental.  Commercial  interest  may  also  be  divided, 
since  there  is  the  interest  which  accrues  to  the  good 
performer  and  that  which  accrues  to  the  most  success- 
ful from  the  beauty  standpoint.  The  streams  meet  in 
that  breed  or  variety  which  can  best  illustrate  both 
beauty  and  performance.  At  a  large  show  the  interest 
in  the  Barred  Rock  classes  and  the  White  Rock 
classes  is  very  strong,  but  these  are  far  more  nearly 
"fanciers'"  breeds  than  is  the  White  Wyandotte,  for 
instance,  because,  back  of  the  fancy  quality,  —  per- 
haps dominating  it,  —  is  the  enormous  strength  of  the 
exceptional  power  as  a  producer  of  eggs,  and  as  a  pro- 
ducer of  the  ideal  market  carcass,  which  belongs  to  the 
White  Wyandotte.  I  noted,  in  a  show  report  from 
Madison  Square  Garden  in  1909,  the  statement  that 
the  Columbian  Wyandottes  were  "next  in  interest  to 
most  poultrymen  present"  to  the  largest  class  in  the 
show,  though  much  farther  behind  in  numbers,  —  as 
so  new  a  variety  would  naturally  be.  I  think  it  is 
because  this  variety  combines  in  one  so  abundantly 
both  the  streams  of  commercial  interest,  besides  being 
a  good  example  of  the  beauty  which  attracts  the  mere 
sentimental  interest  of  the  casual  visitor,  that  the 
Columbian  Wyandotte  has  already  taken  so  high  a 
place  in  general  public  interest.  This  has  been  put 


QUALITY  AND  NUMBERS  AT  THE  SHOWS     83 

into  a  prophecy  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Robinson,  an  editor  who 
keeps  his  finger  continually  on  the  pulse  of  the  poultry 
interest,  in  these  words,  delivered  in  February,  1909: 
"We  are  inclined  to  think  now  that  if  the  breeders 
of  White  Wyandottes  don't  look  out,  this  variety  (Co- 
lumbian Wyandottes)  will  lead  the  Wyandottes  within 
ten  years." 

The  White  Plymouth  Rock  has  owed  some  of  its 
advancement  to  the  mere  fact  that  it  was  a  Rock,  and 
thus  a  member  of  a  breed  already  widely  popular  as  a 
general-purpose  fowl.  It  owes  some  of  it  to  the  fact 
that  it  is  white,  and  thus  makes  a  nice-looking  market 
bird.  But  as  a  fancier's  bird,  I  think  it  has  owed 
most  to  the  fact  that  it  was  a  whiter  bird  than  the 
White  Wyandotte,  its  strongest  rival.  It  has  been 
said  that  the  bleaching  of  white  birds  "is  killing  the 
interest  in  white  varieties."  It  is  said  that  this  is 
carried  to  the  point  of  illegitimate  faking,  and  this  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  fact  that  a  bird  is  white  in  the 
showroom  is  no  criterion  that  it  is  naturally  an  excep- 
tionally white  bird.  And  as  the  big  prizes  turn  very 
largely  on  exceptional  whiteness,  as  exhibited,  this  has 
been  termed  "the  worst  form  of  faking." 

It  is,  then,  no  longer  safe,  no  matter  what  it  may 
have  been  in  the  past,  to  buy,  as  a  breeder,  an  unknown 
bird  which  has  won  a  high  prize.  Thus,  the  very  foun- 
dations of  the  fancy  poultry  business  have  been  cut 


84        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

under.  And  from  this  point  of  view  the  big  fight  at 
the  last  meeting  of  the  American  Poultry  Association 
as  to  comparative  handicapping  of  the  white  and  black 
varieties  becomes  rather  a  farce. 

In  the  matter  of  beauty,  the  American  breeds  have 
a  good  lead,  since  they  include  the  laced,  the  pencilled, 
and  the  brilliant  red  types,  which  are  the  very  founda- 
tions of  the  beauty  possibilities.  Take  away  the  red 
color,  the  pencilling,  and  the  lacing,  and  you  have  small 
material  for  making  a  beauty  breed,  as  things  now  are. 
There  is  a  growing  feeling  that  breeds  to  be  admitted 
in  the  future  must  be  able  to  show  actual  distinctiveness. 

One  new  breed,  admitted  but  two  months  before 
this  writing,  made  claim  not  only  to  distinctiveness 
rather  unusual,  but  also  to  beauty  of  a  very  unusual 
degree.  I  am  not  sure  that  popular  opinion  will  up- 
hold all  this  claim.  Personally,  I  do  not  admire  the 
breed  extravagantly.  But  its  combination  of  colors, 
chestnut-red  and  clear  white,  is  rather  striking,  and, 
though  it  shows  the  well-known  laced  plumage,  the 
lacing,  as  shown,  was  beautifully  clean  and  notably 
wide  and  even  in  all  sections.  The  bird  is  to  be  known 
as  the  "White-laced  Red  Cornish."  This  is  a  brown 
egg  breed,  claimed  to  equal  the  Leghorn  in  egg  produc- 
tion, and  to  lay  as  well  in  confinement  as  on  free  range. 
I  think  the  breed  has  virtually  no  literature  at  the 
present  time,  but  a  number  of  judges  spoke  in  its 


QUALITY  AND  NUMBERS  AT  THE  SHOWS     85 

favor  at  the  convention  meeting  where  it  was  presented 
for  admission  to  the  Standard  of  Perfection.  To  the 
eye  uninfluenced  by  previous  prejudices,  these  birds  ap- 
pear rather  as  a  variety  of  Cornish  Indians  (once  known 
as  Indian  Games)  than  as  a  distinct  breed.  But  they 
are  claimed  to  be  in  every  sense  "a  twentieth-century 
fowl,"  and  though  they  may  not  fall  into  the  "Ameri- 
can" class,  they  are  an  American  production,  and,  in 
one  sense,  can  claim  to  belong  to  the  group  known  as 
the  American  hens. 

The  lacing  and  pencilling  of  exhibition  birds  would 
be  a  matter  for  amazement  as  to  its  beauty  and  its 
exactness,  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  we  are  so  fa- 
miliar with  it.  In  the  American  class  we  have  at 
least  six  varieties  which  have  attracted  prominent 
notice  to  an  extent  to  put  them  into  the  Standard, 
which  show  the  striking  lacing  or  pencilling.  We  have 
also  the  barring  of  the  oldest  form  of  the  Rocks,  and 
we  have  two  exceedingly  handsome  Red  breeds,  in 
three  varieties.  We  have  plain  black,  plain  white,  and 
the  Light  Brahma  combination  of  these.  Thus  it 
appears  that  the  birds  of  the  American  class  lack  very 
little  that  would  fit  them  to  form  a  whole  show  of  their 
own  if  need  were. 


THE  AMERICAN  FARMER,  THE  AMERICAN 
HEN,   AND  THE  FANCY 

The  American  Standard  —  What  constitutes  Perfection?  — 
Overdoing  the  "  block  "  Idea  —  Ideals  —  Behind  the  Farmer, 
the  Fancier  —  Good  Business  Capacity  a  Necessity  to  the 
Fancier 

ALTHOUGH  the  American  hen  has  been  evolved,  in  the 
last  analysis,  with  a  view  to  adjusting  her  exactly  to 
the  needs  of  the  American  farmer,  he  is  still  far  from 
being  fully  acquainted  with  her.  There  are  two  chief 
sources  of  information  as  to  her  fancy  standing,  these 
being  the  Standard  of  Perfection,  and  the  poultry 
show.  The  Standard  of  Perfection  has  just  been 
subjected  to  revision  by  the  American  Poultry  Asso- 
ciation, and  will  from  1910  onward  differ  in  some  points 
from  its  present  form.  But  in  the  large  essentials  it 
will  be  much  the  same  as  before. 

As  our  farming  people  become  yearly  more  inter- 
ested in  pure  bred  poultry,  many  of  them  looking  to 
become  breeders  of  fancy  stock,  the  interest  in  The 
Standard,  by  which  all  such  fowls  are  judged,  be- 
comes yearly  more  widespread.  Hundreds  would  like 
to  know  just  what  the  scope  of  this  Standard  is. 
86 


THE   FARMER,  THE  HEN,   THE   FANCY     87 

Many  would  like  to  breed  by  The  Standard,  yet 
feel  its  purchase  to  be  an  unjustified  expense.  These 
are  much  mistaken;  the  man  who  would  breed  fancy 
fowls  needs,  first  of  all,  " something  to  go  by";  this  is 
precisely  the  use  of  The  Standard  of  Perfection  to 
the  breeder.  And  if  the  breeder  must  follow  its  laws, 
so,  too,  must  the  judges;  the  friction  and  disagreement 
of  which  mutterings  are  sometimes  heard  arise  from 
varying  interpretations  of  The  Standard's  text. 
And,  although  one  might  think  this  unnecessary,  it  is 
really  very  near  an  impossibility  to  paint  such  a  word 
picture  of  any  object  that  all  readers  thereof  shall  see 
the  object  alike. 

If  critics  are  disposed  to  criticise  The  Standard 
as  not  clear,  they  may  do  the  public  a  great  favor  by 
explaining  what  The  Standard  means  to  say,  in 
terms  which  are  understandable.  The  new  edition 
will,  it  is  hoped,  be  beyond  criticism.  Surely  no 
volume  needs  more  to  be  exact  and  correct  in  its  English. 

The  special  text  for  each  variety  includes  the  special 
disqualifications  which  would  hinder  it  from  compet- 
ing in  any  show,  detailed  description  of  the  color  of 
each  section  of  the  male,  and  such  description  for  the 
female  also.  Interpretation  seems  to  vary  more  here 
than  elsewhere,  as  various  individuals  seem  to  have 
different  color  values  as  a  mental  standard.  The 
"rich,  golden  buff"  of  The  Standard  means  one 


88        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

shade  to  one  judge  or  breeder  and  a  different  shade 
to  another.  The  judge  who  is  not  a  breeder  (or  who 
has  not  bred  considerably  the  variety  which  he  passes 
upon)  is  not  worth  very  big  pay;  yet  if  he  is  a  practised 
breeder,  he  is  sure  to  have  a  standard  of  his  own, 
which  he  supposes  to  be  the  standard,  yet  which  differs 
from  that  which  plenty  of  other  honest  breeders  believe 
to  be  the  standard. 

In  spite  of  the  efforts  of  years,  and  periodical  re- 
visions in  the  interest  of  advancement  and  accuracy 
of  statement,  the  novice  breeder  who  for  the  first  few 
times  tries  to  apply  The  Standard  to  his  birds,  to 
see  how  near  it  they  really  come,  is  rather  apt  to  be 
filled  with  disappointment,  if  not  disgust.  He  had 
expected  to  be  independent,  with  the  aid  of  The  Stand- 
ard of  Perfection.  He  finds,  at  once,  that  he  must 
formulate  for  himself  a  second  standard,  a  sort  of 
sliding  scale  of  comparison  between  the  average  of 
birds  as  they  are  and  the  book  standard.  He  must 
know  perfection  in  a  bird;  he  must  then  know  how 
near  perfection  the  best  specimens  grown  will  come, 
and  also  how  far  below  these  all  allowable  breeding 
and  exhibition  birds  will  fall.  This  can  be  learned  in 
part,  slowly  and  laboriously,  in  his  own  breeding  yards, 
if  he  have  good  stock;  but  the  only  reasonably  swift 
way  of  learning  it  is  to  visit  those  shows  which  employ 
judges  who  apply  The  Standard  sternly,  see  what 


THE  FARMER,  THE  HEN,  THE  FANCY  89 

wins  the  various  prizes,  and  talk  with  the  judges,  if 
possible.  This  private  standard  is  not  an  absolute 
one,  by  any  means,  but  one  comes  gradually  through 
all  these  means  of  instruction  and  education  to  sense 
what  a  good  bird,  a  fine  bird,  or  a  superfine  bird  is. 
He  learns  that  even  the  last  is  not  perfection;  this 
being  at  first  a  hard  saying. 

Glancing  over  the  law  for  shape  in  Plymouth  Rock 
males,  I  see  that  the  comb  is  to  be  medium  or  slightly 
below  medium  in  size,  that  the  ear  lobes  are  to  be 
medium  in  size,  and  that  this  happy  "medium"  is 
called  for  fourteen  times  more  in  the  description,  be- 
sides two  demands  for  "moderate"  development. 
Some  standard  of  comparison  must  be  in  the  mind  of 
the  learner  before  he  can  grasp  the  meaning  of  this 
word  "medium."  He  must  know  something  about 
small,  medium,  and  large  breeds.  Thus  it  appears  that 
some  general  knowledge  of  breeds  is  necessary  to  quick 
comprehension  of  Standard  terms  of  description.  Here, 
again,  we  may  see  how  attendance  at  a  well-judged 
show  of  high  character  is  a  help  in  learning  breed 
shibboleths.  Any  poultry  show  is  helpful,  but  a  good 
show  is  very  much  more  helpful  than  a  poor  or  even  a 
"medium"  good  one,  as  so  many  poor  birds  will  ap- 
pear at  a  lower  class  show.  The  novice,  as  a  rule, 
believes  all  show  birds  to  represent  high  value,  and  is 
thus  apt  to  be  confused  in  his  standards  of  compari- 


go        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

son.  One  of  the  first  things  that  strikes  the  learner, 
at  even  the  big  shows,  is  the  number  of  birds  which 
are  very  poor  indeed  in  some  prominent  section.  It 
is,  of  course,  against  the  law  of  good  breeding  to  use 
such  birds  as  breeders,  and  against  the  law  of  good 
exhibition  to  place  them  on  show  in  competition;  yet 
the  superior  value  of  such  birds  in  other  sections  is 
expected  to  carry  the  fault  through.  It  often  does  it, 
even  against  the  better  judgment  of  the  judge  then 
acting,  and  against  the  general  spirit  of  breeding  and 
judging  law.  At  one  state  show  I  saw  blue  ribbons 
on  the  coops  of  two  different  birds  with  combs  un- 
speakably poor;  and,  as  I  walked  the  Pan-American 
alleys  with  a  novice,  I  noticed  his  chief  comment  was 
on  the  surprisingly  poor  sections  in  a  good  many  of 
the  birds,  even  there. 

The  Leghorn  is  a  long-established  breed ;  but  though 
The  Standard  said  for  years,  "tail  carried  well  up, 
but  not  upright,"  there  is  even  yet  question  as  to  how 
a  Leghorn  tail'must  be  carried  to  be  just  right.  This 
is  largely  because  just  as  soon  as  the  breeder  gets  the 
tails  low  enough  to  avoid  "squirrel  tail"  all  the  time, 
he  finds  the  tail  inclined  to  get  too  low.  If  he  aims 
to  get  them  "well  up"  he  soon  has  a  goodly  (or  un- 
goodly)  proportion  that  are  not  only  upright,  but  in 
front  of  the  vertical  line.  So,  even  in  the  best  shows, 
the  best  birds  will  show  tails  a  trifle  too  long,  too  high, 


THE   FARMER,   THE   HEN,   THE   FANCY     91 

too  low,  too  something  nearly  every  time.  The  owner 
of  a  first-prize  bird  in  New  York  told  me  that  the 
judge  had  scored  his  bird  there,  and  asserted  that  it 
deserved  a  full  score  of  ninety-eight.  Happy  man,  who 
stands  alone  in  attainment!  And  happy  the  novice 
who  could  form  his  idea  of  Leghorn  perfection  from 
this  exceptional  bird ! 

The  man  who  would  breed  fancy  fowls  for  high 
prices  is  most  unwise  to  try  to  do  this  nice  work  with- 
out all  the  tools  necessary.  Chief  among  these  is 
The  Standard  of  Perfection.  Yet  with  one  tool 
alone,  he  will  be  too  heavily  handicapped.  Let  him 
get  every  good  tool  he  can  acquire,  and  he  will  not 
then  be  so  well  fitted  as  he  could  wish.  Let  him  study 
books,  men,  and  birds,  if  he  would  get  on  in  this  chosen 
work.  A  talent  for  asking  questions  is  a  great  thing 
for  him  who  knows  how  to  season  all  replies  with  the 
proper  salt.  In  questioning  a  lot  of  men,  the  replies 
of  some  will  give  a  pretty  fair  idea  as  to  the  amount 
of  salt  needed  to  mix  with  those  of  others,  so  that  even 
the  learner  has  his  compensations  and  need  not  be 
thrown  too  far  off  the  track  by  any  fanatic.  All  this 
is  in  the  line  of  acquiring  experience,  and  experience 
always  counts. 

What  constitutes  perfection  in  a  fowl?  The 
American  Standard  of  Perfection  —  always  the  latest 
edition !  —  is,  broadly  speaking,  the  answer  to  this 


92        HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR   PROFIT 

question,  as  its  descriptive  matter  is  the  law  for  one 
hundred  and  thirty  varieties  of  domestic  fowls,  both 
land  and  water  classes.  There  are  those  who  main- 
tain that  the  word  "perfection"  is  a  misnomer,  since 
perfection  could  not  improve;  while  the  Standard  is 
being  changed  with  a  view  to  improvement  once 
every  five  years.  It  is  perhaps  a  fair  statement  to  say 
that  the  Standard  is  revised  by  all  interested  breeders, 
since  at  the  last  revision  copies  of  the  changes  pro- 
posed by  the  special  Revision  Committee  were  mailed 
to  all  members  of  the  American  Poultry  Association, 
long  enough  before  the  latter's  annual  meeting  for 
them  to  be  fully  conversant  with  these  proposed  changes, 
and  fully  prepared  to  discuss  them  in  open  meeting, 
and  to  vote  on  them  at  the  final  call. 

The  hundreds  of  changes  last  made,  while  impor- 
tant, were,  as  a  rule,  not  radical,  the  intention  being  to 
raise  the  Standard  of  each  breed  as  fast  as  it  shows 
susceptibility  to  advance.  As  we  have  fowls  of  many 
shades  of  color,  all  through  buffs,  whites,  reds,  and 
combinations  of  black  and  white,  as  well  as  plain 
black  and  plain  white,  it  takes  many  color  terms  to 
describe  them.  One  important,  if  minor,  part  of  the 
last  Revision  Committee's  work  was  to  reduce  the 
number  of  such  terms,  yet  still  retain  enough  to  de- 
scribe clearly  every  shade  and  combination  known. 
The  number  has  been  reduced  about  two-thirds,  so 


THE   FARMER,   THE  HEN,   THE   FANCY     93 

that  the  new  Standard  will  contain  thirty-five  of  such 
color  terms. 

The  American  Standard  of  Perfection  further  de- 
scribes itself  on  the  title-page,  as  "a  complete  descrip- 
tion of  all  recognized  varieties  of  fowls."  This  means 
not  only  those  of  the  purely  American  classes,  but  also 
those  of  other  countries  in  their  "American  form"  — 
if  I  may  coin  an  expression.  The  public  is  forbidden 
to  reproduce  its  pictures  or  to  duplicate  its  text,  except 
in  brief  quotations  for  the  dissemination  of  knowledge. 
The  first  edition  of  this  American  Standard  was  pub- 
lished in  1874,  and  all  changes  have  been  based  on 
this  work,  new  breed  standards  being  added  as  they 
were  recognized;  admission  to  the  Standard  constitut- 
ing this  recognition.  Some  breeds  which  have  been 
hindered  in  various  ways  from  getting  early  recogni- 
tion have  gained  a  degree  of  public  recognition  which 
enabled  them  to  dispense  with  the  formal  recognition 
of  the  Association  fairly  well,  and  mutinies  and  rumors 
of  mutinies  among  the  specialty  clubs  have  been 
known  at  times.  If  a  breed  have  a  strong  club,  it  is 
able  to  defy  the  Association  to  some  extent;  but  all 
recognize  that  it  is  to  the  interest  of  any  breed  to  gain 
this  formal  recognition,  if  at  all  possible. 

One  of  the  first  things  to  appear  in  the  Standard  is 
an  illustrated  glossary  of  several  pages  of  technical 
terms.  Understanding  of  these  is  necessary  to  intelli- 


94        HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

gent  reading  of  the  body  of  the  Standard.  There  is  a 
list  of  general  disqualifications  and  an  explanation  of 
the  various  "cuts"  which  judges  are  required  to  make 
for  defects  of  all  the  various  kinds  which  may  detract 
from  the  value  of  a  "Standard-bred  bird."  Any  bird 
of  pure  blood  which  is  bred  with  an  effort  to  make  it 
conform  as  far  as  possible  to  the  excellencies  described 
in  the  Standard  of  Perfection,  is  termed  a  "Standard- 
bred"  fowl.  This  is  one  of  the  most  satisfactory  words 
to  use  in  speaking  of  fancy  fowls,  as  there  is  no  uni- 
formity of  use  of  the  terms  "thoroughbred,"  etc. 

The  Standard  describes  birds  of  English  origin, 
those  of  French,  Italian,  Asiatic,  etc.,  but  always 
from  the  American  point  of  view.  Older  Standards 
are  usually  the  basis  of  our  descriptions,  no  matter 
how  much  these  may  differ  after  we  have  worked  our 
will  with  them.  After  we  have  bred  any  fowl  for  a 
time,  American  ideals  appear  to  influence  the  breeders 
and  the  breed,  so  that  the  American  type  of  any  breed 
is  seldom  a  close  copy  of  its  type  in  its  own  country. 
Even  the  Orpington,  —  a  late  English  fowl,  —  as  we 
breed  it,  grows  to  differ  quite  materially  from  the 
Orpington  of  the  English  breeder's  ideal  form.  The 
Orpington  ideal  picture,  from  the  pencil  of  England's 
best  living  poultry  artist,  shows  a  bird  of  strong 
Cochin  type.  To  be  sure,  the  cushion  does  not  rise  to 
a  height  greater  than  that  of  the  main  tail-feathers,  but 


THE   FARMER,   THE   HEN,   THE   FANCY     95 

it  is  there,  and  at  least  on  a  level  with  the  upper  tail 
feathers,  in  the  female.  To  be  sure,  the  breast  feathers 
do  not  sweep  the  ground,  as  they  virtually  do  in  our 
Cochin  ideal,  but  they  swing  down  so  low  that  they 
give  much  of  the  same  impression,  and  the  bird  looks 
loose  and  saggy  all  over.  The  American  ideal  of  the 
correct  Orpington,  as  shown  in  our  Standard,  is  as 
close-hauled  as  a  Rock,  the  level  carriage  being  the 
most  noticeable  distinction  on  a  quick  glance.  There 
is  more  difference  between  the  English  and  American 
types,  as  thus  pictured,  than  there  is  between  some  dis- 
tinct breeds.  Still  another  variation  in  type  may  be 
seen  in  the  illustrations  in  some  American  poultry 
papers.  One  of  the  present  year,  by  one  of  our  best 
artists,  and  depicting  a  winner  of  this  year  in  one  of  our 
eastern  shows,  has  much  of  the  English  looseness  of 
feather,  with  a  shape  never  before,  I  think,  seen  in  any 
bird.  (The  depth  of  body  immediately  back  of  the  leg 
is  almost  exactly  fifteen-sixteenths  the  length  just  a 
little  below  the  tail,  while  in  our  Standard  "ideal" 
the  depth  is  a  little  more  than  two-thirds  the  length  at 
that  point.)  This  bird  won  first  over  a  number  of  others 
ranking  as  first-class,  and  was  hailed  as  among  the  best 
representatives  of  "true  Orpington  type"  now  existing. 
The  typical  Wyandotte,  heretofore  depicted  in  our 
Standard  by  our  best  artist,  is  barely  five-sixths  as  deep 
as  she  is  long.  Thus,  this  representative  Orpington  is 


g6        HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

shorter,  in  proportion,  than  our  Standard  Wyandottes. 
Yet  the  same  publication  has  recently  published  an  ap- 
peal from  Mr.  Felch  entering  a  plea  for  greater  length 
of  body  in  the  Wyandotte ! 

Beside  this  fact  we  might  place  the  statement  of  a 
certain  Wyandotte  breeder  who  claims  to  have  raised  his 
flock  to  an  annual  average  of  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
seven  eggs.  This  gentleman  affirms  that  if  the  craze  for 
short,  blocky  specimens  does  not  stop,  it  will  utterly  and 
surely  ruin  the  Wyandotte  as  a  utility  fowl  —  by  which 
he  means,  as  the  context  shows,  an  egg  producer. 
"  The  more  blocky  you  get  them,  the  poorer  layers  you 
are  making  of  them."  The  depth  of  his  best  layer,  as 
pictured,  is  practically  two-thirds  her  length,  measured 
on  the  same  plan  as  the  previously  mentioned  specimens. 

With  as  many  breeds  as  we  now  have,  it  is  a  very 
difficult  matter  to  present  ideal  pictures,  even  when 
based  on  photographs,  that  will  show  at  a  glance  the 
real  difference  between  the  breed  types.  This  state- 
ment might  easily  stir  up  a  swarm  of  denials ;  but  I  saw 
a  pretty  good  illustration  of  the  fact  at  the  annual  meet- 
ing of  the  authoritative  body  of  this  country,  as  regards 
poultry.  Artists  of  ability  presented  some  specimens 
of  half-tone  work,  intended  for  the  new  Standard. 
The  work  in  itself  was  beautiful,  but  the  breeders  there 
present  tore  it  to  tatters,  metaphorically  speaking,  and 
the  Association  was  all  of  a  buzz  over  it.  And  I  think 


THE   FARMER,   THE  HEN,   THE   FANCY     97 

this  has  been  the  case  with  a  large  proportion  of  the 
pictures  presented  for  criticism,  even  by  our  best  artists, 
whose  ability  no  one  questions. 

The  forward  step  in  the  effort  to  get  good  Standard 
illustrating  is  to  be  "idealized  photographs,"  in  half- 
tone work.  Indeed,  the  pictures  discussed  above  were 
of  this  class.  But  breeds  and  breed  types  so  overlap 
each  other,  and  the  different  poses  of  any  particular 
specimen  make  so  many  seemingly  different  birds  of  her 
that  the  artists  have  an  almost  impossible  task.  In  the 
Red  breeds,  another  difficulty  appears:  The  shading 
necessary  to  bring  out  proper  form  approaches  its 
deepest  at  the  points  where  the  living  bird  is  its  lightest, 
in  some  parts  —  a  mechanical  and  artistic  problem 
which  would  puzzle  the  wisest,  since  the  result  tends  to 
deceive  the  very  beginners  whom  the  illustrations  are 
especially  made  to  help. 

But  how  will  this  help  the  poultry-raising  farmer? 
Not  long  ago,  a  farmer  wrote  his  favorite  paper  con- 
cerning a  poultry  show  which  he  had  just  attended.  His 
comment  was  that  from  first  to  last  it  was  purely  a 
fancier's  show,  the  farmer  and  his  needs  being  wholly 
ignored.  I  quote:  "I  talked  freely  with  several  visitors 
whom  I  met  at  the  show  about  its  characteristics,  its 
limitations,  and  its  shortcomings,  and  we  all  agreed 
that  the  exhibition  was  of  no  practical  benefit  whatever 
to  the  farmer;  that,  beyond  this,  it  was  of  no  benefit  to 


98         HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

the  public  generally,  since  it  in  no  way  tended  to  im- 
prove or  increase  the  supply  of  commercial  eggs  or 
dressed  fowl ;  and  that,  therefore,  from  both  the  farm- 
er's and  the  public's  point  of  view  such  exhibitions  were 
not  deserving  of  public  support." 

I  think  this  critic  rather  shallow,  but  he  is  one  of 
thousands  who  have  no  conception  of  the  way  in  which 
the  fancier — berated  individual — stands  back  of  the 
farmer  and  his  utility  work.  There  is  a  great  cordon 
of  workers  continually  hammering  at  every  problem  in 
poultrydom,  of  whom  the  general  utility  man  knows 
almost  absolutely  nothing. 

The  oldest  representative  of  the  poultry  papers  of  this 
country  is  about  forty  years  old ;  its  nearest  competitor 
is,  say,  thirty.  Within  a  space  of  forty  years,  then,  the 
present  immense  interest  in  poultry  has  been  "worked 
up."  Do  you  object  to  this  term,  and  affirm,  rather 
resentfully,  that  poultry  which  pays  is  certain  to  come 
to  the  fore  without  any  effort  to  "work  it  up"?  So 
thought  Micawber,  in  effect,  while  he  waited  for  some- 
thing to  turn  up;  so  thinks  the  business  man  whose 
competitor  works  all  around  him,  and  secures  all  the 
business,  while  the  first  waits  for  business  to  come  to 
him ! 

No;  all  these  things  influence  each  the  other,  and  all 
help  the  industry  and  advance  prices. 

There  are  two  distinct  lines  of  work  with  poultry, 


THE   FARMER,   THE   HEN,   THE   FANCY     99 

known  as  the  "fancy"  and  the  "utility"  branches. 
That  is,  utility  tries  to  convince  itself  that  they  are  dis- 
tinct; "fancy"  knows  that  it  has  no  enduring,  wide- 
reaching  life  without  its  coadjutor,  "utility."  Take 
this  instance :  A  fair  Single-comb  White  Leghorn  breed- 
ing cockerel  is  freely  offered  at  $1.50.  Can  one  buy 
an  equally  good  White  Wyandotte  for  that  amount? 
No;  because  the  utility  value  of  the  latter  is  about 
twice  that  of  the  Leghorn,  so  that  a  Wyandotte  of  about 
the  same  grade  as  the  Leghorn  in  question  will  com- 
mand about  $2.50  to  $3.  The  breeder  will  simply  say 
that  he  can't  afford  to  bother  to  ship  a  cheaper  Wyan- 
dotte; better  sell  them  to  the  butcher  outright  and  be 
done  with  it,  for  there  is  nothing  in  the  price  margin  to 
pay  for  coops,  extra  care,  and  advertising.  Thus,  utility 
bolsters  fancy  prices. 

When  "utility"  believes  and  affirms  that  it  could  get 
along  as  well,  if  not  better,  without  the  fancier,  it  forgets 
that  the  fancier  made  the  breeds  which  we  now  have, 
and  brought  them  to  their  present  perfection.  It  for- 
gets that  virtually  all  of  the  men  and  women  who  are  dis- 
pensing poultry  instruction  are  fanciers,  in  greater  or 
less  degree.  Something  over  fifty  years  ago  market 
chicks  ranged  from  two  and  one-half  to  five  pounds 
each,  the  latter  being  thought  very  large.  Now,  since 
the  fancier  has  manufactured  the  wonderful  American 
breeds  from  the  scrawny  dunghill  and  the  barrel-tall 


ioo     HOW   TO    KEEP   HENS    FOR   PROFIT 

Shanghai,  there  is  scarcely  a  grower  but  has  owned  or 
seen  a  Plymouth  Rock  female,  either  white  or  barred, 
vsieighing  nine  or  ten,  or  even  eleven  pounds,  when 
alive.  Now  the  city  markets  often  have  to  refuse  stock 
because  it  is  too  large !  Yet  with  all  this  it  requires  the 
laws  of  "The  Standard  of  Perfection"  and  the  great  and 
constant,  effort  of  the  fancier  to  keep  his  stock  up  to 
weight,  in  order  to  insure  that  the  stock  on  the  general 
farm  shall  come  up  to  common  market  requirements  in 
weight,  so  rapidly  does  deterioration  in  size  and  quality 
go  on  under  average  treatment.  The  probability  is  that 
the  simple  habit  of  hatching  late  chicks  and  using  the 
later  ones  for  breeding  stock  is  responsible  for  the  larger 
part  of  this  deterioration  in  size ;  the  ravages  of  lice  un- 
fought  would  account  reasonably  for  the  rest,  without 
any  need  to  seek  deep-lying  reasons.  Yet,  such  is 
human  nature  that,  were  it  not  for  his  positive  Standard, 
even  the  average  fancier  would  let  down  the  rules  enough 
to  cause  retrogression. 

Each  year  hundreds  of  poultry  shows  are  scheduled. 
The  first  lone  progenitor  of  all  these  is  reported  to  have 
been  held  here  in  1848.  Between  Athat  time  and  the 
present,  the  education  of  the  individual  has  been  pro- 
gressing. I  think  it  may  be  safe  to  say  that  by  far  the 
larger  part  of  those  who  now  rank  as  fanciers  were  first 
inoculated  with  the  poultry  fever  virus  at  a  show  of 
fancy  fowls,  Some  may  have  had  literature  first,  es- 


THE   FARMER,  THE   HEN,    THE   FANCY     101 

pecially  in  the  departments  of  the  farm  papers,  but  the 
usual  line  is,  I  think,  first  the  show,  with  its  revelations 
of  possibilities,  then  the  desire  for  fuller  information, 
creating  the  demand  for  more  and  better  literature. 
Literature  and  shows  have  had  such  an  effect  in  increas- 
ing genuine  fanciers  that  good  fowls,  from  The  Stand- 
ard point  of  view,  can  be  found  in  almost  every  town  of 
any  size.  The  show  in  the  modest  town  often  brings  out 
some  birds  about  as  good  as  any  that  grace  the  big  shows. 
The  fancier  has  certainly  given  us  handsome  and  quite 
uniform  flocks  of  birds. 

He  has  given  us  the  handsome  American  breeds  of 
middle  weight,  plump  birds,  fine  for  market.  He  gave 
us  rather  early  the  Americanized  Leghorn,  unap- 
proached  by  any  other  style  of  Leghorn.  Since  that 
triumph,  he  has  had  a  difficult  task  in  trying  to  surpass 
himself.  A  bird  with  the  egg  capacity  of  the  Leghorn 
and  the  market  value  of  the  best  bird  one  can  imagine 
is  what  he  has  since  been  striving  to  produce.  When 
he  almost  reaches  this  ideal  he  carefully  adds  just  one 
more  touch  of  Leghorn  blood,  and  behold  his  bird  is  once 
more  a  bit  too  small  —  too  near  a  Leghorn,  in  fact  — 
too  near  the  Leghorn  type.  She  has  hard  flesh  and 
small  carcass,  with  too  much  neck  and  leg,  and  not  high 
enough  egg  power;  between  extremes  the  worker  in 
breeds  has  been  seesawing  for  years.  When  he  reaches 
the  mean,  his  bird  is  too  general-purposey ;  she  isn't 


102      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

q-u-i-t-e  what  we  want  for  market,  and  she  does  not  lay 
q-u-i-t-e  so  many  eggs  as  the  Leghorn.  And  there  he 
stays.  The  reproductive  faculty  is  a  sensitive  one  to  deal 
with,  and  man  has  been  aiming  to  get  the  hen  back  to 
the  fish  stage  of  unnumbered  progeny.  We  see  advertise- 
ments of  200,  210,  213,  and  242  egg  "strains,"  but,  be- 
tween ourselves,  we  don't  believe  in  them.  Meanwhile, 
one  poultry  journal  of  highest  esteem  throws  doubt  on 
the  attainment  of  the  two-hundred-egg  hen,  even  while 
another  blatantly  affirms  that  she  has  already  arrived. 
And  still  eggs  —  just  common  eggs  —  are  so  strongly 
impregnated  with  the  money  flavor  at  midwinter  that 
most  people  cannot  eat  them  at  all !  Indeed,  I  know 
people  who  produce  them  who  cannot  eat  them  on  this 
account.  But  if,  when  the  hen  reaches  the  fish  stage  of 
almost  unlimited  production,  the  eggs  shall  also  have  a 
fishy  odor,  what  better  will  it  be  ?  Shall  we  not  be  still 
unsatisfied  and  demand  of  the  fancier  that  he  make  us 
something  nearer  our  taste  ? 

The  question  as  to  the  value  of  fancy  stock  to  the 
farmer  would  be  answered  in  the  negative  much  oftener 
if  it  related  to  fowls  than  if  it  related  to  other  farm  stock. 
Yet,  if  fancy  fowls  are  admitted  to  be  in  any  way  more 
valuable  than  common  stock,  it  ought  to  be  answered  in 
the  affirmative  oftenest  when  it  relates  to  fowls,  because 
fowls  can  soonest  be  made  to  return  a  yield  from  the  in- 
vestment. 


THE   FARMER,   THE   HEN,   THE   FANCY     103 

Perhaps  we  do  not  always  realize  the  many  good  points 
which  poultry  and  poultry  products  possess.  The  late 
Mr.  Tillinghast,  whose  clear  common  sense  was  such  a 
help  to  the  Rhode  Island  Station  farm  work,  used  to  call 
attention  to  the  fact  that  poultry  gave  quick  returns, 
with  products  done  up  in  small  "packages,"  easily 
handled,  easily  marketed,  small  in  compass  compared 
with  value;  and,  in  case  of  eggs,  capable  of  storage  for  a 
considerable  period  in  the  producer's  hands.  These 
points  are  well  worth  consideration. 

It  becomes  every  farmer  to  inquire  whether  fancy 
fowls  have  any  points  of  value  above  common  fowls  that 
will  justify  the  extra  cost  to  him  of  getting  a  start  with 
them.  I  believe  it  to  be  useless  for  any  producer  to  pay 
out  money  for  extremely  high-priced  fancy  stock  unless 
it  is  to  be  cared  for  in  a  businesslike  way.  It  will  take 
only  one  or  two  years  to  spoil  any  flock  of  fowls.no  matter 
how  valuable  it  may  have  been,  unless  a  man  will  care 
for  this  as  he  would  for  any  other  investment. 

Again,  if  a  man  is  going  into  fancy  poultry  with  a  view 
to  becoming  a  "  fancier"  in  the  process  of  time,  he  might 
just  as  well  aquit  before  he  begins,"  unless  he  is  a  good 
business  man  and  a  good  salesman.  For,  after  the 
stock  has  been  carefully  raised  and  intelligently  se- 
lected, it  still  has  to  be  sold.  There  are  only  two  main 
ways  of  selling  it:  through  advertising  it  in  the  press 
and  through  advertising  it  in  poultry  shows.  Who  is 


104      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

going  to  buy  your  stuff  unless  you  have  some  way  of 
proving  that  it  is  worth  buying?  A  man  wants  value 
received  (some  want  more),  whether  it  be  plums,  pigs, 
poultry,  or  any  other  product  of  his  hand  and  brain, 
added  to  Nature's  forces. 

It  seems  to  me  a  marvellously  interesting  and  glorious 
occupation  to  join  one's  own  skill  and  intelligence  to 
Nature's  generous  and  beneficent  agencies,  and  to  be- 
come in  a  limited  sense  a  creator  of  improved  individuals 
in  all  lines  of  effort  in  two  kingdoms  —  the  vegetable 
and  the  animal.  Nothing  can  exceed  this  work  in  its 
delight. 

As  to  the  fancier,  why  say  he  is  but  a  devotee  to  cer- 
tain ideals  of  beauty,  and  therefore  his  work  and  his 
products  have  small  value  to  the  practical  man,  who 
wants  above  all  else  to  see  dollars  grow  ?  Is  this  quite 
true?  If  the  fancier  confine  himself  to  externals  only, 
like  the  color  of  feathers  and  the  shape  and  length  of 
wattles,  it  may  be  a  just  way  to  view  his  work  from  the 
superior  viewpoint  of  the  practical  man.  These  may 
be  his  chief  delight,  but  the  fancier  is  far  more  practical 
than  the  man  who  looks  down  on  him,  for  he  gives  nearly 
one-third  of  the  one  hundred  points  that  go  to  make  a 
perfect,  ideal  fowl  to  shape  of  the  various  sections;  and, 
if  he  demands  certain  shapes  of  comb,  lobes,  etc.,  he  also 
demands  specific  shapes  for  breast,  back,  body,  etc., 
and  these  in  the  general-purpose  fowls,  are  what  give  the 


THE  FARMER,  THE  HEN,  THE  FANCY  105 

practical  value  many  times.  The  scorner  may  say, 
"  What  nonsense,  to  demand  that  a  fowl  shall  stand  with 
legs  wide  apart!"  But  is  it  nonsense  to  insist  that  a 
fowl  shall  have  a  broad  breast  ?  The  fowl  that  has  legs 
placed  wide  apart  has  a  thick  breast  between  them,  and 
here  is  where  the  fancier  takes  care  of  the  interests  of  the 
practical  man.  In  a  large  number  of  varieties,  the  back 
must  be  broad  to  conform  to  the  Standard,  and  this 
helps  keep  the  rounded  body  that  makes  a  sightly  mar- 
ket specimen.  The  fact  that  the  fancier  breeds  every 
specimen  with  a  view  to  its  conforming  as  nearly  as 
possible  to  the  one  ideal  form  for  its  breed  makes  for 
uniformity  of  the  finished  specimens,  and  here  again  the 
fancier  is  the  salvation  "  of  the  practical  man."  For  it 
is  in  this  desired  uniformity  of  product  that  the  great  value 
of  fancy  fowls  to  the  average  farmer  lies.  The  more 
nearly  even  in  size  and  shape  the  specimens  of  dressed 
poultry  which  a  farm  turns  out,  the  better  position  will 
the  products  of  that  farm  take  in  open  market  or  in  the 
estimation  of  special  private  custom. 

With  eggs  the  story  is  still  the  same.  It  pays  the 
handlers  in  the  large  cities  to  sort  eggs  to  color.  Why 
then  should  it  not  pay  the  producer  to  do  these  simple 
things  which  add  to  the  value  of  a  costly  product 
through  only  a  little  care?  The  easiest  place  to  do  this 
sorting  is  in  the  hatching  eggs,  because  this  soon  secures 
something  like  uniformity,  not  only  in  a  special  lot,  but 


io6      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

in  the  whole  output.  The  fancier  makes  this  selection 
in  the  hatching  eggs  to  certain  extent.  The  Standard 
does  not  demand  it,  but  his  sense  of  beauty  —  and  his 
customers  —  often  demand  it  of  him.  The  point  to  be 
made  by  the  practical  man  against  the  fancier  is  simply 
that  the  fancier  cannot  be  as  severe  in  his  culling  to 
practical  points  as  he  would  like,  except  where  his 
standard  is  sharply  explicit;  because  he  must  also 
consider  surface  points  and  must  give  much  attention  to 
color.  But,  though  he  may  be  tempted  to  give  undue 
attention  to  color  while  his  breed  is  new  or  while  he  is 
working  up  to  high-grade  stock,  there  usually  comes 
a  time  when  he  has  the  color  question  well  in  hand  and 
can  then  give  a  better  proportion  of  attention  to  the 
more  practical  points. 

The  practical  man  who  does  not  care  to  be  a  fancier 
does  not  himself  need  the  high-priced  birds,  but  he 
makes  a  mistake  when  he  thinks  the  fancier's  work  is 
nothing  to  him.  His  very  best  hold  is  to  build  his  work 
on  a  fancier's  fowl  that  has  many  practical  points,  be- 
cause he  can  work  from  this  along  the  practical  line 
without  the  handicaps  of  the  fancier.  He  can  buy  the 
shape  and  size  and  uniformity  cheaply.  The  uniform- 
ity which  the  fancier  has  established  can  become  his  by 
the  expenditures  of  two  dollars  or  three  dollars  for  pure- 
bred eggs,  and  if,  from  this  selected  stock,  he  will  him- 
self select  for  uniformity  in  size  of  carcass  and  for  uni- 


THE   FARMER,   THE   HEN,   THE   FANCY     107 

formity  in  shape,  color,  and  size  of  eggs,  it  need  be 
only  two  or  three  years  before  he  can  have  almost  his 
own  ideal  in  poultry  products.  He  can  get  along 
faster  than  the  fancier  does  because  he  has  only  one 
or  two  things  to  handle,  and  these  do  not  contradict 
each  other. 

A  great  reason  why  this  condition  does  not  come  about 
on  the  farm  is  that  there  is  no  standard  of  practical 
points  to  live  up  to,  except  in  the  mind  of  producer  or 
buyer.  A  standard  having  authority  to  demand  certain 
practical  points  would  be  a  great  help.  The  trouble  is 
that  in  the  press  of  other  things,  men  do  not  hold  them- 
selves to  the  mental  standards  which  they  may  have  set 
up.  Conditions  and  circumstances  continually  tend  to 
draw  us  all  away  from  our  standards,  if  these  are  not 
fixed  in  some  way.  It  takes  excellent  business  ability 
to  raise  and  sell  fancy  stock  and  eggs,  and  make  the  oc- 
cupation, as  a  business,  bring  in  more  than  goes  out, 
because  the  expenses  are  always  considerable  and  the 
details  many.  Advertising,  circulars,  and  the  like  make 
expenses  count  up  pretty  well. 

It  takes  good  business  ability  even  to  hold  a  lot  of 
fancy  stock  at  as  good  a  point  as  when  first  acquired. 
It  has  long  been  the  custom  for  fanciers  to  advise  farmers 
to  buy  cockerels  of  purebred  stock  to  "grade  up  their 
flocks."  I  do  not  think  this  amounts  to  so  very  much, 
unless  it  is  carried  systematically  through  several  genera- 


io8      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

tions.  If  good  males  are  secured,  their  blood  worked 
into  the  flock,  and  their  progeny  mated  back  to  them, 
progress  will  be  made.  But  in  this  case  I  would  advise 
that  either  the  best  layers  or  the  most  uniform  females, 
as  to  both  size  and  color,  be  first  selected.  If  specimens 
which  answer  both  these  requirements  can  be  found,  so 
much  the  better;  and  if  trying  to  grade  up  a  flock  in  this 
way,  it  would  probably  be  best  of  all  to  use  only  one 
female  the  first  year,  the  very  best  one  in  the  flock.  The 
second  year  would  then  give  one  a  good  flock,  all  de- 
scended from  the  very  best. 

There  is  one  valuable  point  in  fancy  stock  which  is  not 
often  referred  to  in  farm  papers,  and  I  think  many  do 
not  think  of  it  in  connection  with  fowls  at  least.  It  is 
really  one  of  the  very  strongest  reasons  for  introducing 
the  blood  of  fancy  fowls  to  the  farmyard.  This  is  the 
fact  —  a  fact  more  true  of  the  oldest  breeds  than  of  the 
newer  ones  —  that  purebred  stock  will  reproduce  itself 
more  surely,  not  only  in  externals,  but  in  its  possibilities 
for  production.  That  is,  an  extra  layer  of  a  pure  breed 
is  much  more  likely  to  produce  good  layers  than  is  a 
specially  good  layer  of  mongrel  blood.  All  the  character- 
istics which  have  been  bred  into  a  purebred  fowl  are 
strengthened  so  that  it  is  "in  the  blood,"  as  we  say,  to  do 
certain  things,  to  reproduce  certain  qualities.  This  is  a 
modified  meaning  of  the  "prepotency"  so  often  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  larger  stock. 


THE  FARMER,  THE  HEN,  THE  FANCY  109 

The  experimenters  to  whom  we  look  for  advancement 
along  the  lines  of  better  breeding  of  plants  and  animals 
think  they  have  discovered  the  law  on  which  these  things 
work  out.  If  they  really  have  the  A  B  C  of  such  a  law, 
we  may  rest  assured  that  they  will  soon  be  able  to  give 
us  D  and  E  and  F,  and  we  may  look  forward  with  con- 
fidence to  the  day  when  we  may  receive  from  them  even 
the  X,  Y,  and  Z  of  these  hard  breeding  problems. 


THE    AMERICAN    HEN   AND   AMERICAN 
MONEY 

Their  Relations  —  Our  Poultry  Products  —  Money  Out  — 
Beauty  vs.  Utility— Getting  at  the  Dollars— The  Market 
Bird  and  the  Dollars 

THE  question  as  to  the  American  hen's  actual  rela- 
tion to  American  money  is  still,  to  some,  an  open  one. 
Does  she  absorb  more  good  American  money  than  she 
produces,  or  not?  As  an  argument  against  the  hen,  it 
would  be  very  effective  to  quote  a  recent  delivery  of  the 
Government,  to  the  effect  that  it  is  probable  that  "more 
failures  are  made  in  poultry  farming  than  in  any  other 
type  of  farming  undertaken  by  beginners."  On  the 
other  hand,  the  same  authority  avers  that  it  is  "  de- 
cidedly one  of  the  best  and  most  profitable  types  of 
farming,  when  properly  conducted."  This,  it  will  be 
noted,  throws  the  credit  for  success,  or  the  onus  of  fail- 
ure, directly  upon  the  owner,  rather  than  upon  the 
fowls.  This  means  that  the  American  hen  is  all  right, 
in  the  estimation  of  Uncle  Sam.  It  is  the  Yankee  him- 
self who  is  on  trial. 

It  is  to  be  hoped,  and  it  now  seems  probable,  that  we 
shall  have  more  reliable  statistics  in  connection  with 


AMERICAN  HEN  AND  AMERICAN  MONEY     in 

the  next  census  than  have  ever  before  been  possible. 
The  American  Poultry  Association  has  tendered  its 
services  in  helping  the  Government  to  get  a  more  accu- 
rate report  of  things  as  they  really  are.  It  passed  a 
resolution  characterizing  former  methods  as  "inade- 
quate," and  urging  that  the  next  census  be  taken  "  in  a 
manner  that  shall  best  show  the  kind,  quantity,  and  true 
value  of  poultry  and  poultry  products  on  the  farms  and 
in  the  villages  of  the  United  States."  Few  persons  have 
understood  that  the  Census  Bureau  has  been  handi- 
capped in  this  matter,  because  it  has  had  no  authority 
from  Congress  to  collect  statistics  of  poultry,  except  as 
these  were  incidental  to  a  census  of  "the  farm."  This 
arbitrary  distinction  has  necessarily  thrown  out  of  the 
records,  all  but  those  poultry  establishments  which 
could  be  considered,  either  in  fact  or  by  assumption  or 
courtesy,  as  "farms."  The  Bureau  decided  that  the 
income  from  the  plant  must  count,  gross,  into  the  hun- 
dreds of  dollars,  or  the  work  must  take  a  considerable 
part  of  the  time  of  one  person,  in  order  to  come  within 
the  limits  of  "farm  "  production,  in  the  census  meaning. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  the  coming  census,  even  if 
very  imperfect,  will  be  of  wider  grasp  than  any  previous 
one,  as  lists  of  large  poultry  places  are  to  be  advertised 
for  by  the  Department,  and  individuals  have  already 
been  asked  to  keep  accounts  in  order  to  be  ready  for  the 
enumerator,  with  facts,  rather  than  estimates. 


H2      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

Under  such  difficult  conditions  as  have  formerly 
prevailed,  we  have  had  a  report  of  $281,178,247  as  the 
value  of  poultry  and  poultry  products  produced  on  the 
"farms"  of  this  country  in  1899,  the  year  previous  to 
the  last  census  taking.  In  between  the  ten-year  periods, 
we  get  estimates,  based  on  the  wide  knowledge  which 
the  Department  always  has  of  existing  conditions  and 
of  continuous  progress.  For  1905,  its  estimate  was  half 
a  billion  dollars  as  the  value  of  the  poultry  and  eggs 
produced.  There  are  those  closely  in  touch  with  poul- 
try production  who  have  ventured  to  predict,  that  the 
next  census  returns  will  total  "close  to  a  billion  dol- 
lars." I  suppose  we  may  then  talk  about  "the  billion- 
dollar  hen"  and  put  the  now  famous  "ten-thousand- 
dollar  hen"  out  of  the  public  eye  completely! 

There  are  statistics  already  in  hand  to  prove  that  a 
goodly  gain  will  be  made  in  the  figures,  because  of  the 
increase  in  selling  prices  alone.  Many  have  come  to 
believe,  and  are  saying  freely,  that  farm  products  will 
never  again  be  low-priced,  in  this  country.  Should  this 
prove  true,  the  "  wealth  "  of  the  poultry  farmer  is  sure  to 
increase ;  since,  so  long  as  he  continues  to  grow  his  own 
grains  and  to  go  without  hired  help,  he  has  the  game, 
to  a  certain  extent,  in  his  own  hands.  The  product 
is  one  which,  in  some  lines,  has  no  competitors.  Can 
another  farm  product  be  named  with  such  a  stable 
demand,  so  rich  in  nutriment,  put  up  in  such  con- 


AMERICAN  HEN  AND  AMERICAN  MONEY     113 

venient  packages,  so  easy  to  carry  to  market,  and  ex- 
tending its  period  of  income-production  throughout,  or 
nearly  throughout  the  year?  The  American  hen  is  a 
pretty  safe  "proposition,"  be  assured. 

As  to  actual  increase  in  price,  the  figures  of  some 
large  consuming  points  are  available.  In  New  York 
City,  the  average  wholesale  price  of  dressed  poultry  has 
advanced  since  1899  we^  toward  two  and  a  half  cents 
a  pound,  as  recorded  up  to  the  year  1908.  This  one 
fact  affects  more  farmers  than  any  other  that  could  be 
named,  except  change  in  egg  production,  since  poultry 
raising  is  a  branch  of  farm  industry  probably  found  on 
more  farms  than  any  other  one  branch. 

The  rise  in  the  price  of  eggs  has  been  so  gradual, 
much  of  the  time,  yet  so  continuous,  that  we  are  almost 
amazed  as  we  look  back  to  see  from  what  we  have 
advanced.  Possibly  St.  Louis  has  ranked  as  one  of 
the  lowest  markets  for  this  class  of  products,  and  New 
York  one  of  the  highest.  Fourteen  years  ago,  the 
lowest  price  of  eggs  in  St.  Louis  was  eight  cents,  and  for 
seven  years  it  ranged  from  six  to  nine  cents  a  dozen. 
The  extreme  high  price  in  those  years  ranged  month 
by  month  from  nineteen  to  twenty-five  cents.  Since 
that  time,  it  has  ranged  in  December  and  January 
from  twenty-one  to  twenty-nine  cents,  touching  twenty- 
one  and  twenty-two  only  twice,  as  a  monthly  mean 
of  the  higher  quotations.  In  New  York  City,  in  1907, 


ii4      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

the  high  average  was  twenty-five  cents.  In  1907  and 
1908,  the  low  monthly  average  touched  twenty-four  or 
better,  six  different  months  —  the  colder  ones,  of  course. 
The  high  average,  which  I  understand  as  meaning  the 
average  quotations  for  the  fancy  grade,  touched  points 
between  forty-four  and  fifty-five,  inclusive,  six  times. 
These  are  the  wholesale  prices,  it  is  to  be  noted.  If 
the  value  of  the  eggs  on  so-called  "farms"  amounted 
ten  years  ago  to  more  than  one  hundred  and  forty-four 
million  dollars,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  advanced  prices 
alone  would  now  lift  the  values  high  above  the  figures 
then  collected. 

The  average  farm  price  of  eggs  for  the  entire  coun- 
try was,  in  1899,  11.15  cents;  by  1904  it  had  risen  to 
above  seventeen  cents;  in  1908  it  was  18.3  cents  per 
dozen.  In  the  advance  sheets  for  1909,  price-move- 
ment, rather  than  actual  prices,  is  noted;  but  as  the 
advance  is  given  as  being  more  than  100  per  cent  over 
the  period  just  before  1900,  we  can  see  just  about  where 
the  figures  will  fall. 

It  is  well  known  that  fanciers  —  who  are  quite  largely 
town  poultrymen  —  make  a  business  of  importing  stock 
and  eggs  from  foreign  countries  to  improve  their  flocks 
when  the  stock  of  those  countries  ranks  higher  than  our 
own.  But  this  summer  I  have  known  of  several  in- 
stances of  genuine  farm  fancy-poultry  breeders  turn- 
ing to  imported  stock  to  get  just  what  they  want.  When 


AMERICAN  HEN  AND  AMERICAN  MONEY     115 

a  good  Yankee  reaches  the  point  where  he  will  not 
even  wink  when  abstracting  from  his  pocket  a  roll  of 
twenty-five  dollars  or  fifty  dollars  for  a  single  bird 
which  he  thinks  may  help  him  to  win  a  first,  or  to  im- 
prove his  flocks  and  make  from  them  many  winners, 
it  begins  to  look  as  though  there  was  money  put  into 
poultry,  whatever  came  out !  Last  spring,  too,  I  re- 
ceived the  supposably  modest  circular  of  a  couple  who 
were  just  beginning  on  a  farm  of  their  own,  and  was 
much  edified  to  learn  the  correspondingly  modest  prices 
for  their  eggs  for  hatching.  The  lowest,  if  my  memory 
serves,  were  five  dollars;  the  really  "good"  ones,  from 
twelve  to  twenty  dollars  per  sitting.  And  the  situation 
seemed  to  smack  of  irony,  when  a  few  days  ago  I  read, 
from  the  pen  of  the  foremost  English  authority,  the 
statement  that  their  particular  variety  is  of  so  little 
repute  in  its  native  country  that  it  "has  no  history." 
If  this  is  strictly  true,  it  must  be  that  we  are  making  an 
American  hen  out  of  this  variety  by  American  breeding. 
And  I  might  add,  just  as  an  item  of  additional  interest, 
that  it  is  to  this  variety  that  the  "ten-thousand-dollar 
hen, "  owned  in  this  country,  and  exploited  throughout 
the  world,  belongs. 

The  crux  of  the  whole  matter  is  in  the  uncertainty 
as  to  whether  our  good  American  money  is  to  appear 
eventually  on  the  side  of  profit,  or  that  of  loss  —  whether 
it  shall  stick  to  our  pockets,  or  to  those  of  the  other 


n6      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

fellow.  It  is  my  opinion,  largely  speaking,  that  the 
matter  of  selecting  the  American  hen,  her  of  the  strictly 
American  class  —  to  speak  Standard-wise  —  may  be 
of  great  importance  just  here.  My  pronounced  belief 
is  that  the  hen  of  the  American  class  is  the  one  most 
likely  to  help  the  good  American  money  to  settle  finally 
to  rest  in  the  pockets  of  her  producers  and  handlers  if 
they  are  average  people. 

The  amount  of  money  that  goes  into  advertising,  in 
our  very  numerous  poultry  papers,  —  not  to  mention 
the  far  more  widely  circulated  farm  papers,  —  into  ex- 
pressage  and  exhibition  entry  fees,  into  club  publica- 
tions and  dues,  etc.,  is  almost  beyond  belief.  When 
one  goes  to  the  New  York  show  and  is  met  by  the  simple 
news  item  that  X  sold  fifteen  birds  to  Y  yesterday  for 
fifteen  hundred  dollars,  one  feels  no  earthquake,  for 
such  items  are  becoming,  if  not  common,  at  least  nearly 
enough  common  to  be  among  the  expected  things. 
One  may  go  home  and  muse  on  the  character  of  the 
situation,  should  the  fifteen  contract  roup  in  the  show- 
room or  get  smothered  in  the  express  cars;  for  these 
incidents  are  rather  more  common  than  are  those 
meaty  sales.  But  they  are  all  in  the  game,  and  if  one 
hundred  dollars  or  five  hundred  dollars  of  good  Ameri- 
can money  goes  out  of  existence  with  a  roupy  hen,  it 
need  not  cause  a  ripple.  There  is  more  money  to  put 
into  hens,  and  usually  there  are  more  hens. 


AMERICAN  HEN  AND  AMERICAN  MONEY     117 

At  least,  while  beauty  is  thus  bringing  in  the  dollars, 
plodding  utility,  likewise  beautiful,  it  may  be,  is  bring- 
ing in  the  pennies.  Four  cents  for  every  pearly  white 
offering  of  Madam  Utility,  or  for  every  brown-tinged, 
Bostonese  variation  in  the  egg  story,  is  —  catch  your 
breath !  —  twelve  dollars  a  year  in  gross  income  from 
the  eggs  of  that  "recorded"  three-hundred-egg  hen. 
The  man  who  has  a  thousand  of  her  kind,  is  assured 
of  an  income  of  twelve  thousand  dollars.  That  most 
precious  article  of  henhood  cannot,  to  save  her  precious 
substitute  for  a  soul,  eat  much  more,  on  the  average, 
than  the  commonest  cull  from  the  egg- fold,  so  that  feed, 
even  in  high-price  periods,  cannot  cost  more  than  about 
a  sixth  of  this  income.  And  there  you  are,  and  the 
American  hen  has  made  you,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
years,  a  real  aristocrat !  Who  says  that  figures  will  lie  ? 
They  will  not;  they  will  only  leave  out  a  few  of  the 
particulars. 

There  are  various  ways  of  getting  at  the  dollars,  one 
of  which  is  in  operation  near  New  York  to-day.  It  is 
a  rather  new  thing  to  poultry  literature,  no  matter  how 
old  in  actual  existence.  It  consists  of  a  system  of  branch 
egg-farms,  circled  about  a  main  farm,  located  within 
city  limits,  producing  chicks  in  large  numbers  from 
the  best  stock  and  after  the  most  approved  methods, 
to  sell  to  the  branches.  These  branches  raise  the  chicks, 
produce  from  them  infertile  eggs,  and  ship  these  eggs 


n8      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

every  day  or  two  to  the  main  farm,  which  sells  all  the 
eggs  to  private  city  trade.  This  main  farm  has  a 
delivery  system  whereby  all  eggs  go  to  consumers  at 
once  on  their  arrival  from  the  branches.  It  is  a  great 
idea:  the  system  is  its  own  producer,  its  own  middle- 
man, and  its  own  retailer.  How  could  the  problem 
of  the  middle-man  be  better  solved?  The  twenty- 
eight  farms  in  this  system,  at  the  present  stage  of  the 
work,  consider  themselves  able  to  handle  seven-thou- 
sand layers.  If  these  were  three-hundred-egg  hens  — 
but  what  is  the  use  ?  They  are  shelling  out  the  dollars, 
and  supporting  the  American  farmer,  which  is  honor 
enough. 

If  there  is  one  characteristic  which,  more  than  others, 
marks  American  farmers  as  a  class,  it  is  their  apprecia- 
tion of  the  utility  side.  And  it  is  the  American  farmer, 
more  than  the  man  of  any  other  class,  who  should  be 
interested  in  the  American  hen;  who  is,  indeed,  inter- 
ested in  her.  Hence,  it  goes  without  saying  that  the 
discussion  of  her  from  the  utility  standpoint  ought  to 
touch  him  to  the  quick,  even  though  not  so  sensational 
as  the  showroom  story. 

There  are  three  special  points  in  connection  with  the 
utility  side  of  the  American  hen,  viz.,  the  winter  eggs 
she  can  be  made  to  lay,  the  kind  of  a  market  bird  she 
makes,  and  the  proportion  of  her  chicks  that  can  be 
raised  under  average  conditions.  The  American  hen 


AMERICAN  HEN  AND  AMERICAN  MONEY     119 

as  a  winter  layer  is  not  to  be  named  in  the  same  class 
with  others,  because  she  so  far  outclasses  them  all.  It 
is  not  denied  that  the  Mediterraneans  often  make  good 
winter  layers,  but  it  is  at  the  cost  of  warm  houses,  close 
confinement,  and  the  acquisition,  many  times,  of  the 
vices  which  are  a  concomitant  of  this  treatment.  It 
is  not  denied  that  some  of  the  Asiatics  make  very  good 
winter  layers,  but  they  must  needs  be  hatched  in  bitter 
weather  (some  hatch  them  in  January  for  next  winter's 
laying),  and  they  must  be  fed  three  or  four  months 
longer  than  the  Mediterraneans  or  the  American  breeds 
before  they  are  even  ready  to  begin  laying.  It  is  prob- 
ably quite  within  the  truth  to  say  that  two  Leghorns  or 
Wyandottes  can  be  raised  to  laying  maturity  on  what 
it  would  cost  to  raise  one  Asiatic  to  the  same  period  of 
maturity.  In  addition  to  this  the  Asiatic  will  after- 
wards take  the  room  of  two  Leghorns,  and  almost  the 
feed  of  two.  At  least,  two  of  the  large  breeds  will  eat 
regularly  as  much  as  three  Wyandottes  or  Reds.  The 
man  with  an  eye  for  the  utility  points  will  not  be  slow 
to  figure  on  these  items,  and  to  decide  that  the  middle- 
weight, middle-sized  bird,  with  enough  of  the  Asiatic 
about  her  make-up  to  insure  her  winter  laying  qualities, 
is  the  bird  to  depend  on  for  profit.  It  hardly  needs  to 
be  said,  perhaps,  that  whether  or  not  she  pays  a  satis- 
factory profit  in  winter  will  depend  very  largely  on  her 
handling,  as  the  simple  fact  that  she  has  the  desired 


120      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

tendencies  will  not  insure  her  being  profitable.  The 
feed  and  the  housing  are  both  essential  points,  and  are 
so  crucially  important  that  they  will  be  discussed  in 
another  chapter. 

It  is  quite  well  known  in  this  country,  —  at  least 
among  those  who  take  special  interest  in  poultry  — 
that  the  demand  of  American  markets  differs  consider- 
ably from  that  of,  for  instance,  the  English  markets. 
The  white-skinned  bird  which  our  English  cousins  con- 
sider the  only  one  to  furnish  chicken  meat  fit  to  eat  is 
the  very  one  which  would  lie  unsold  in  a  large  propor- 
tion of  our  markets.  It  has  been  said  that  this  condition 
is  changing  to  some  extent.  Personally  I  have  seen  no 
proof  of  such  change.  The  yellow-skinned  bird  is 
the  American  ideal,  and  the  American  type  —  which 
virtually  means  the  general- pur  pose  bird  with  yellow 
skin  —  has  largely  driven  all  others  out  of  the  general 
markets.  No  doubt  there  are  very  many  birds  of  other 
breeds  sold  in  our  wide  country,  but  a  very  large  number 
of  them  go  to  local  markets,  and  have  no  influence  on 
the  general  markets  at  all.  The  men  who  raise  stock 
chiefly  for  market  in  this  country  are  very  likely  to  choose 
the  White  Wyandotte  or  the  Plymouth  Rock,  except 
for  a  few  special  markets  which  may  like  larger  birds. 
The  average  consumer  has  an  average  family,  and  wants 
an  average  sized  bird  as  a  meal  for  that  family.  He 
does  not  want  a  bird  the  size  of  a  pigeon,  nor  can  he 


AMERICAN  HEN  AND  AMERICAN  MONEY     121 

manage  one  of  the  size  of  a  turkey,  like  some  of  the 
Asiatic  males.  A  certain  eastern  commission  firm, 
describing  the  class  of  market  stuff  desired,  laid  stress 
upon  the  birds'  being  well  fatted  "so  that  the  breast 
bone  does  not  stick  out,"  on  plumpness,  and  on  "yel- 
low meat."  This  gives  a  raiser  his  cue  at  once,  if  he 
knows  anything  about  the  various  breeds.  The  middle- 
class  or  general-purpose  breeds  are  the  only  ones  that 
can  fill  this  demand  with  profit  to  the  producer  at  all 
times.  The  Wyandotte  has  the  plumpness  desired, 
even  without  fattening,  as  has  also  the  Rose-comb 
Brown  Leghorn.  This  Leghorn  makes  an  extra  fine 
broiler,  but  the  American  breeds  are  better  for  market 
stock  of  the  roaster  class. 

A  market  fowl  should  have  the  capacity  to  take  on 
fat  readily,  and  to  keep  in  good  condition  all  the  time. 
Probably  the  Rock  takes  on  fat  most  easily,  but  the 
Wyandotte  has  the  better  breed  form,  being  short- 
necked,  round  and  plump  in  natural  conformation. 
Many  like  the  Red  breeds,  because  the  under-color  and 
"pins"  are  also  reddish,  and  the  pins  that  may  remain 
after  dressing  hardly  show  against  the  skin. 

I  fancy,  from  what  I  have  seen,  that  many  people 
have  little  conception  of  what  a  really  fat  market  speci- 
men is.  Such  might  find  help  in  the  display  of  market 
poultry  at  the  larger  shows  in  this  country.  The  good 
farm  wife  would  be  likely  to  call  them  "butter-balls," 


122       HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

for  they  are  butter-colored,  rounded  so  that  the  natural 
form  scarcely  shows,  and  look  like  parcels  of  fat  only  — 
so  greasy  is  the  skin.  I  think  these  are  often  a  bit  over- 
done for  the  sake  of  emphasis,  and  of  winning  the  prize ; 
at  least  I  have  never  seen  such  fat  birds  on  actual 
sale  in  any  market.  But  they  are  a  good  object  lesson. 

The  American  varieties  have  another  point  of  fitness, 
in  that  their  period  of  attaining  maturity  is  so  reason- 
ably short  that  they  can  be  adapted  to  the  selling  season 
far  more  easily  than  can  the  large  breeds.  The  man 
who  has  had  his  novitiate  avoids,  as  far  as  possible, 
putting  his  stuff  on  the  general  markets  at  any  time 
between  early  September  and  the  middle  of  January, 
because  this  is  the  season  of  lowest  prices.  Since,  dur- 
ing the  first  months,  the  cost  of  production  is  measur- 
ably the  same  for  the  same  age,  in  average  conditions 
every  cent  of  drop  per  pound  in  price  must  come  out 
of  the  profits  —  the  profits,  I  say ;  that  margin  between 
cost  and  selling  price  which  ought  to  get  into  the  pro- 
ducer's pocket.  If  he  sell  after  prices  drop,  he  sells 
to  his  own  loss  nearly  always,  since  drop  in  prices  is 
usually  more  rapid  than  possible  increase  in  weight, 
even  with  growing  birds.  This  point  emphatically 
helps  to  determine  where  the  dollars  will  settle. 

The  American  breeds  can  easily  be  brought  to  sal- 
able condition  and  size  before  the  drop  in  price  for  early 
chickens.  And  the  "fricassee"  bird  has  her  innings 


AMERICAN  HEN  AND  AMERICAN  MONEY     123 

here,  also.  In  surburban  towns  there  is  a  constant 
demand  for  what  are  known  to  the  buyers  as  "fricassee 
chickens."  These  are  hens  preferably  a  year  old, 
and  the  call  for  them  continues  at  least  until  the  time 
for  roasters  at  a  reasonable  price.  The  American 
breeds  give  a  bird  of  popular  size,  and  one  usually  in 
fair  condition.  This  opening  allows  a  man  who  keeps 
fowls  for  eggs  chiefly  to  market  his  hens  all  through  the 
summer,  as  they  pass  the  productive  period  for  the 
year.  Since  such  a  grower  will  want  to  replace  at  least 
half  his  hens  with  pullets,  he  can  furnish  just  what 
custom  asks  and  at  a  time  to  suit  his  own  needs;  which, 
surely,  is  all  that  should  be  desired. 


MAKING  A  HIGHLY  PROFITABLE  WORKER 

Investing  too  Eagerly  —  Vigor  Necessary  to  Continuous  Work 
—  Weeding  out  Incapables  —  Errors  in  Selling  —  Preserv- 
ing Profit-margins 

IF  one  who  knows  nothing  at  all  about  poultry  raising 
begins  to  spend  money  for  eggs,  fowls,  appliances,  etc., 
it  needs  no  Solomon  to  be  able  to  predict  that  the 
money  in  poultry  for  this  person  will  be  the  money  put 
in  for  some  time  to  come,  unless  he  move  very  care- 
fully. This  is  just  where  we  of  the  farms  have  two  or 
three  prime  advantages.  We  generally  know  some- 
thing at  least  of  the  actual  work;  we  have  a  native 
caution,  as  a  rule,  that  hinders  us  from  making  too 
heavy  investments  where  there  is  uncertainty;  and  a 
very  large  number  of  us  are  kept  from  mistakes  we 
might  otherwise  make  by  the  very  fact  that  we  haven't 
the  ready  money  to  risk.  Money  in  hand  is  a  bad 
thing  ofttimes  for  the  man  with  a  new  craze,  the  attrac- 
tions of  which  may  be  laid  before  him  in  the  guise  of 
figures  which  always  show  money  coming  into  his 
pocket.  He  has  only  to  hold  it  open  ! 

A  year  or  two  ago  two  people  —  pretty  intelligent 
124 


MAKING   A   PROFITABLE   WORKER       125 

people,  too  —  came  into  a  poultry  supply  store  with  a 
long  list  of  stuff  which  they  wanted  to  buy  on  the  spot. 
They  were  of  the  earning  class,  bitten  with  a  belief  that 
they  could  make  money  out  of  poultry  faster  than  they 
could  earn  it  by  their  usual  hard  work,  and  full  of 
eagerness  to  invest  quite  a  pocketful  which  they  had 
saved  from  their  earnings  in  all  sorts  of  things  where- 
with to  make  a  "start."  It  chanced  that  the  salesman 
had  been  through  the  mill,  and  was  a  man  with  a  con- 
science. He  sold  them  an  incubator,  a  brooder,  and  a 
few  other  necessary  things,  then  said  to  them :  "  Now,  see 
here;  these  other  things  all  down  this  list  are  not 
strictly  necessary.  You  can  get  along  without  them  at 
first  or  you  can  make  things  that  won't  cost  you  much 
take  their  places.  You're  going  to  need  a  contingent 
fund  for  emergency  calls  which  you  can't  see  ahead  now. 
Better  save  the  money  you  meant  for  these  things  till 
next  season,  anyhow,  then  see  how  you  feel  about  in- 
vesting in  them." 

Those  who  took  a  superficial  view  of  the  situation 
would  have  said  at  once:  "This  man  was  hired  to  sell 
all  he  could  to  customers  who  came  to  the  store  ?  What 
moral  right  had  he  to  put  these  people  off  the  track  and 
lose  his  employer  money,  even  to  save  it  to  the  intend- 
ing buyer,  poor  though  the  buyer's  judgment  was?" 
Events,  however,  justified  the  man  completely.  The 
same  customers  came  back  next  year,  inquired  for  this 


126      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR   PROFIT 

special  salesman,  thanked  him  for  saving  them  from 
throwing  away  money  and  became  regular,  intelligent, 
continuous  patrons  of  the  house  which  had,  possibly, 
saved  them  to  the  ranks  of  poultry  keepers  by  making 
their  first  year  one  of  reasonable  income  rather  than  one 
of  unreasonable  and  discouraging  outgo. 

I  have  known  of  several  cases  in  which  people  have 
sunk  all  the  spare  cash  they  could  lay  hands  on  for 
several  years  in  buying  one  thing  after  another  for  carry- 
ing on  their  poultry  fad,  and  have  finally  dropped  the 
matter  disgustedly,  calling  down  anathemas  on  all  who 
might  mention  poultry  keeping  at  all  favorably.  This 
is  the  group  of  whom  one  may  always  safely  predict 
failure  from  the  first  minute.  I  have  known  of  three 
deserted  poultry  places,  standing  object  lessons  and 
arguments  in  their  community  against  the  "ridiculous" 
idea  that  poultry  keeping  may  be  profitable.  In  one 
community  I  knew  of  numbers  of  successful  poultry- 
men  whose  work  could  not  offset  in  the  public  mind  the 
effect  of  those  deserted,  pathetic,  tumbling  buildings. 
Yet  in  nearly  twenty  years'  acquaintance  with  sub- 
urban towns  about  New  York  I  have  never  known  more 
than  the  three  instances  of  which  I  speak  of  failure  at 
all  notable. 

Just  recently  this  matter  was  brought  freshly  to  my 
mind  by  a  new  recruit  inquiring  of  his  favorite  expert 
where  a  poultry  plant  already  established  could  be  had 


MAKING   A   PROFITABLE   WORKER       127 

for  rent  or  sale  near  one  of  our  large  cities.  The  in- 
quirer made  this  statement :  "  I  keep  seeing  that  many 
people  have  started  in  with  too  large  places,  and  are 
obliged  to  sell  at  a  very  low  figure,  but  I  am  unable  to 
find  any  such  places  to  buy."  A  part  of  the  reply  was, 
"Just  at  present  I  know  of  none."  Before  we  bought 
our  present  place  we  got  out  a  search  warrant,  as  the 
saying  goes,  and  covered  New  Jersey  all  about  New 
York,  and  we  were  just  as  successful  as  the  inquirer 
above.  Scarcely  anything  was  to  be  found  in  the 
scores  of  suburban  towns  lying  thickly  about  the  big 
city. 

Last  week  I  was  looking  over  the  prospectus  of  one 
of  the  college  correspondence  courses  in  poultry.  In 
it  the  statement  was  made  that  positions  could  easily 
be  found  for  qualified  students.  Indeed,  the  greater 
trouble  was  to  supply  desired  help,  since  so  large  a  pro- 
portion of  the  students  preferred  to  go  into  the  business 
for  themselves.  These  are  of  the  class  who  already 
know  the  risks  and  the  expenses.  The  case  has  stood 
thus  ever  since  the  college  poultry  courses  began.  And 
it  seems  to  me  no  two  better  arguments  than  the  above 
are  needed  or  could  be  had  to  prove  that  poultry  is 
giving  satisfactory  returns  to  those  who  are  in  the  work. 

The  facts  noted  above  ought  to  be  especially  helpful 
to  the  very  large  number  who  do  not  quite  trust  the 
hen,  —  who  fear  that  anything  at  all  expended  on  her 


128      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

may  be  money  thrown  away.  Few  days  pass  that  I  do 
not  have  queries  of  some  kind  to  answer.  I  am  obliged 
to  look  at  the  matter  from  the  standpoint  of  the  man  too 
eager  to  spend  money  —  in  fact,  eager  to  throw  away 
money  —  and  also  of  the  one  too  fearful  to  be  reason- 
ably generous  or  liberal.  There  is  nothing  like  the 
logic  of  facts,  and  when  I  have  these  to  throw  light  on 
any  question  asked  I  am  satisfied,  because  I  feel  certain 
that  I  shall  not  unwittingly  mislead  any  one. 

The  other  morning  the  milkman  came  in  rather 
excitedly.  One  can  easily  see  that  a  milkman  can  add 
eggs  to  his  stock  in  trade  without  extra  effort,  and  make 
a  fine  thing  of  a  private  custom.  So,  the  one  of  whom 
I  speak  keeps  several  hundred  hens.  Even  so,  at  this 
season  he  cannot  begin  to  keep  even  with  the  demand, 
and  he  buys  all  the  eggs  he  can  find  from  desirable 
sources. 

"And  what  d'ye  think  pullets  brought  at  the  auction 
yesterday?"  he  began.  "I  went  over  there,  thinkin' 
I  c'd  perhaps  find  a  nice  lot  of  pullets.  What  d'ye 
guess  they  brought?  Sixty-five  cents  for  them,  not 
half-grown.  Ninety  cents  for  some  they  called  Minor- 
cas  —  I  don't  know  if  they  was  pure,  but  I  don't  think 
so.  And  $1.09  for  Plymouth  Rocks!"  "Were  they 
pure?"  I  inquired;  "if  so,  that  was  not  exorbitant  for 
good  pullets."  "I  don't  think  they  was  pure.  And 
hens  brought  eighty  cents." 


MAKING   A   PROFITABLE   WORKER       129 

There  is  no  place  in  the  country,  I  presume,  unless 
we  except  Boston,  where  so  much  money  is  put  into 
poultry  as  in  the  surburban  places  tributary  to  New 
York  City.  Feed  is  high  and  supplies  are  bought  to 
a  large  extent  in  the  big  city,  where  high  rents,  cartage, 
expressage,  etc.,  add  enormously  to  cost.  The  trade 
in  poultry  supplies  runs  into  the  thousands  of  dollars 
weekly  during  the  season.  Lumber  is  high,  help  is  high, 
and  the  suburbanite  who  would  dabble  in  poultry  must 
put  his  hand  deep  into  his  pocket  and  pull  out  the 
money  to  put  into  poultry,  even  though  he  has  cut  off 
every  useless  expense.  Under  these  circumstances, 
to  have  people  crowd  each  other  to  buy  pullets  as  we 
near  the  winter  season  at  prices  double  what  they  have 
cost  to  raise,  seems  to  speak  rather  loudly  in  favor  of 
poultry  as  a  means  of  profit  even  when  the  money  put 
in  must  be  the  largest  sums  usually  considered  within 
limit. 

Remembering  that  the  hen,  to  be  highly  profitable, 
must  be  a  consistent  and  pretty  continuous  worker,  we 
ought  to  grasp  easily  the  importance  of  constitutional 
vigor.  Yet  it  is  notably  the  fact  that  wherever  I  have 
been  among  the  farms  of  different  states  there  seems  to 
be  a  failure  to  appreciate  the  difference  between  fowls 
of  fine  constitution  and  those  of  a  little  less  tljan  aver- 
age vigor.  No  doubt  this  is  because  the  conditions  in 
general  assure  a  fairly  good  average  constitution.  The 


130      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

fact  that  birds  running  at  large  are  not  likely  to  be  so 
closely  observed  as  are  those  in  confinement  also  plays 
a  part. 

One  who  raises  fancy  stock  soon  learns  to  rate  a  good 
constitution  higher  than  any  other  one  feature,  except 
in  case  of  fine  exhibition  birds.  If  he  wants  to  buy  a 
bird  for  a  breeder,  one  of  his  requirements,  particularly 
noted,  is  sure  to  be  "Must  be  vigorous."  Sometimes  it 
will  read,  "Must  be  exceptionally  vigorous";  and  it  is 
well  for  every  one  who  handles  domestic  fowls,  either 
for  utility  only  or  as  extra  fancy  stock,  to  learn  not  only 
to  distinguish  between  the  bird  of  fine  constitution  and 
the  one  with  a  weak  hold  on  life,  but  also  to  harden  his 
heart  against  giving  the  latter  "  the  benefit  of  the  doubt." 
Culling  is  a  chief  factor  for  success. 

While  it  is  true  that  accident  and  circumstance  will 
be  pretty  sure  to  occasion  losses  in  any  flock,  no  matter 
how  well  handled,  careful  weeding,  with  the  thought 
of  the  requirement,  "Must  be  vigorous,"  in  mind,  will 
reduce  these  occasional  losses  to  a  minimum.  Lack 
of  care  in  culling,  especially  for  vigor,  is  the  producing 
cause  of  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  losses  among 
flocks  in  general.  The  judge  in  a  show  of  fancy  fowls 
is  instructed,  in  case  of  doubt,  to  give  the  specimen  the 
benefit  of  the  doubt.  But  this  is  a  fatal  position  for 
one  to  take  who  is  selecting  specimens  for  utility  or 
breeding  purposes.  We  are  all  pretty  much  alike  in 


MAKING   A   PROFITABLE   WORKER       131 

this  —  we  hate  to  cut  out  a  tree  well  started,  no  matter 
how  much  damage  it  is  doing;  and  we  hate  to  condemn 
a  bird  that  may  improve,  because  we  do  not  fully  "sense" 
the  consequences  of  her  remaining  in  the  flock. 

Any  one  who  will  notice  the  condition  of  the  birds 
that  "take"  every  disease  going  and  hand  it  on  to  better 
ones,  will  find  that  such  specimens  have  been  off  in 
condition  or  vigor  in  some  way.  It  is  taken  too  much 
for  granted  that  the  disease  has  "run  them  down";  but 
if  they  are  examined  closely  at  the  very  beginning  of 
the  difficulty,  they  are  almost  sure  to  be  found  already 
off  condition.  What  birds  are  they  which  first  suc- 
cumb to  roup  ?  Those  which  are  underlings,  or  weak- 
ened in  some  way,  or  dissatisfied  with  life.  What  chicks 
are  those  which  are  first  overcome  with  vermin  ?  The 
weakly  —  says  a  poultry  raiser  of  fifty  years'  standing 
—  those  which  have  not  vigor  enough  to  rid  themselves 
of  parasites.  What  hens  are  those  which  break  down 
under  ovarian  difficulties?  Too  often  those  whose 
stomachs  and  livers  cannot  do  the  work  required  for 
such  a  busy  egg  machine. 

The  practical  point  is,  How  is  any  one  to  go  to  work 
to  weed  out  the  incapables?  By  what  token  may  one 
know  that  there  is  trouble  ahead  in  the  flocks  or  for 
certain  individuals  therein  ?  Simply  listlessness,  more 
or  less  pronounced.  A  poultry  editor  not  long  ago 
asserted  with  some  positiveness  that  life  isn't  worth 


132      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

living.  Perhaps  it  isn't  for  a  man  who  is  off  the  track; 
at  any  rate,  I've  seen  many  a  hen  that  silently  agreed 
with  him.  Like  man,  the  first  symptom  she  shows  is 
lack  of  interest  in  what  has  hitherto  been  the  chief  item 
of  existence,  the  tri-daily  meal-time.  Her  opinion  as  to 
the  utter  stupidity  of  life  is  expressed  in  demeanor  as 
clearly  as  man  himself  would  express  it,  were  he  speech- 
less. 

Except  in  the  matter  of  diseases  like  roup,  following 
severe  colds,  the  ailments  of  fowls  are  almost  wholly  in 
two  classes :  digestive  or  pertaining  to  the  reproductive 
organs. 

Nature's  imperative  law  is  that  the  fit  survive  the  un- 
fit; but  Nature  takes  her  own  time  and  her  own  way 
to  end  the  story.  "  Going  light,"  liver  congestion  and 
its  long-drawn  pining,  ovarian  inflammation  with  its 
consequent  barrenness  and  languid  letting  go  of  life,  are 
her  chief  variations  with  regard  to  fowls.  All  of  these 
are  ailments  which  keep  the  average  owner  guessing 
and  which  leave  the  ailing  birds  a  long  time  in  the  flocks 
as  a  menace  to  their  betters;  since  any  epidemic  or  acute 
trouble  which  comes  along  is  pretty  sure  to  seize  on  these 
first,  and  they  transmit  the  contagion. 

The  other  day  I  received  a  little  book  which,  it  seems 
to  me,  has  not  a  little  bearing  on  this  question.  Per- 
haps readers  will  be  amused  when  I  say  that  it  was  a 
brochure  from  one  of  the  leading  sanitariums  of  the 


MAKING   A   PROFITABLE   WORKER       133 

country  —  not  a  sanitarium  for  languid  hens,  but  for 
people  who  have  partially  let  go  their  hold  on  the  life  so 
dear  to  most  of  us.  In  this  little  book  the  statement  was 
made  that  more  and  more  is  the  conviction  forced  upon 
experimenters  that  all  disease  is,  at  the  bottom,  a  matter 
of  food  and  digestion.  Given  good  food  that  can  be 
digested,  and  necessary  fresh  air,  and  we  get  good  blood, 
which  gives  health  to  every  organ.  Well,  this  is  pretty 
near  what  has  been  the  theory,  if  not  quite  so  strongly 
stated  heretofore,  for  long  years.  But  these  experts 
base  their  assertions  on  the  results  of  treatment  of  thou- 
sands of  sick  folk,  and  upon  actual  experiment  with  the 
contents  of  tfre  stomachs  of  hundreds  of  those  under 
treatment,  said  contents  being  withdrawn  for  examina- 
tion. Verily  the  stomach  tube  is  a  boon  to  those  of  us 
who  don't  have  to  make  its  acquaintance,  and  the  physi- 
ologies may  now  give  poor  Alexis  St.  Martin  (who 
had  a  hole  in  his  stomach  wall  which  made  him  a 
public  blessing,  because  he  was  so  good  a  subject  for 
experiment)  a  well-earned  rest !  The  most  important 
thing  learned  in  these  researches,  perhaps,  is  that  vari- 
ous foods,  which  may  be  classed,  have  power  to  stimu- 
late the  acid-producing  glands,  or  to  quiet  them.  This 
means  much  to  our  nation  of  dyspeptics.  The  great 
point  is  that  these  people  are  putting  less  and  less  faith 
in  medicines,  more  and  more  in  fresh  air  and  proper 
food,  and  are  curing  a  larger  proportion  of  patients 


134      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

each  year.  This  makes  the  matter  of  suitable,  nourish- 
ing food,  even  for  hens,  seem  a  more  important  one, 
but  I  want  especially  to  put  the  emphasis  on  the  neces- 
sity of  watching  the  eating  habits  of  the  birds.  Any 
single  member  that  shows  no  eagerness  for  her  ration, 
any  slow  eater,  any  bird  that  gets  in  a  corner  by  herself, 
is  a  suspect,  and,  in  all  probability,  is  not  worth  the 
room  she  occupies.  I  don't  mean,  of  course,  that  a 
single  instance  proves  anything.  I  do  mean  that  listless- 
ness,  wherever  seen,  is  a  challenge  to  open  eyes. 

There  is  a  possible  exception  to  some  of  the  above,  in 
the  case  of  later  hatched  chicks  yarded  with  a  lot  of 
more  mature  ones.  If  kept  there,  they  promise  to  prove 
worthless,  but  if  placed  by  themselves  they  may  prove 
all  right.  A  large  proportion  of  the  failures  of  begin- 
ners lies  in  the  fact  that  they  do  not  keep  young  chicks 
separate  from  older  ones.  I  once  saw  a  man  who  was 
planning  to  teach  all  his  predecessors  how  to  handle 
poultry,  place  all  his  young  stock  at  midsummer  in  close 
yards  with  his  old  stock,  which  had  already  been  con- 
fined there  a  year,  and  which  had  only  room  enough 
before  the  advent  of  the  chicks.  The  second  year 
thereafter  he  was  "  out "  of  chickens,  and  the  old  stand- 
bys  were  still  plodding  on  in  their  old  ways. 

Yet  a  man  new  to  handling  chickens  often  makes  a 
greater  success  of  it  than  the  old  hand,  if  he  has  plenty 
of  hard  sense.  A  man  came  to  me  to  talk  chickens, 


MAKING   A   PROFITABLE   WORKER       135 

who  had  just  moved  out  from  the  city  and  knew  literally 
nothing  about  handling  them.  He  had  a  man  on  the 
place  who  had  some  experience.  The  owner  wanted  the 
fowls  which  he  had  just  bought  shut  up.  The  helper 
objected.  But  the  city  man  said  sensibly:  "I  can  see 
no  reason  why  they  will  not  do  as  well  yarded  from  now 
on  (as  there  is  practically  nothing  they  can  get  outside), 
provided  that  we  furnish  them  with  sufficient  exer- 
cise and  green  food." 

There  is  one  point  in  handling  the  birds  in  winter 
that  receives  too  little  thought  in  many  quarters.  This 
is  the  providing  of  separate  quarters,  if  at  all  possible, 
for  the  pullets.  I  do  not  believe  so  strongly  as  some  do 
in  the  superior  value  of  any  pullet  over  a  well-moulted 
yearling  hen;  but  I  know  that  the  hens  will  frequently 
make  life  a  burden  to  the  pullets  nearly  all  winter. 
They  will  drive  them  from  the  feed,  drive  them  from  the 
water,  drive  them  off  the  roost,  and  then  pick  them  on 
general  principles.  And  the  pullets  cannot  grow  or 
produce  at  their  best  under  these  conditions. 

Some  one  who  wrote  me  not  long  ago  concerning 
some  little  trouble  in  the  flock  spoke  of  about  thirty-five 
hens,  I  think,  and  a  dozen  or  so  roosters  kept  with  them, 
to  kill  along  through  the  winter.  So  many  cockerels 
as  this,  unless  very  immature,  would  cause  more  loss 
than  people  usually  imagine.  Besides,  they  made  the 
flock  larger  than  is  desirable  for  best  returns.  They 


i36      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

could  have  been  cooped  quite  closely  elsewhere,  and 
would  doubtless  have  grown  faster  than  they  did  as 
they  were  handled.  Even  pullets  of  two  or  more  differ- 
ing breeds,  like  Leghorns  and  others  of  a  heavier  breed, 
do  not  prosper  quite  as  well  together  as  if  all  were  more 
nearly  alike.  And  where  most  of  the  lot  are  feathered 
alike,  one  or  two  birds  widely  different  in  feather  are 
often  made  the  butts  of  the  entire  flock.  I  dare  say  many 
will  think  things  cannot  be  drawn  as  fine  as  this,  under 
average  farm  conditions,  but  it  is  comparatively  easy 
to  avoid  such  circumstances,  if  one  looks  ahead  enough. 

The  thorough  housewife  has  a  saying  that  bread,  no 
matter  how  well  and  carefully  made,  may  be  utterly 
"spoiled  in  the  baking."  In  like  manner  the  output 
of  a  vigorous,  working  hen  may  be  made  of  little  profit 
by  errors  in  selling  either  eggs  or  market  stock. 
And  it  is  a  nice  matter  to  plan  to  catch  the  market  just 
right.  I  might  mention  an  instance,  quite  typical :  — 

With  the  rapid  fluctuation  of  prices  and  the  some- 
times inexplicable  fads  of  the  broiler  demand,  it  becomes 
a  very  nice  question  just  when  to  catch  the  market  for 
broilers.  Prices  vary  surprisingly  in  different  parts  of 
the  country,  but  even  in  the  same  town  management 
may  make  it  true  that  one  poultry  raiser  will  receive 
far  larger  returns  than  fall  to  his  less  lucky  (?)  neigh- 
bor with  the  same  market  chances. 

One  year  we  had  a  few  chicks  hatched  in  late  March, 


MAKING   A   PROFITABLE   WORKER       137 

which  brought  at  the  door,  alive,  over  fifty  cents  apiece 
in  June.  Yet  they  were  not  early  enough  to  catch  the 
highest  prices.  The  next  year  we  purposed  to  do  better, 
and  began  hatching  the  first  week  in  March,  instead  of 
the  last.  The  early  chicks  did  exceedingly  well,  and  the 
same  buyer  spoke  for  them  who  bought  from  us  the 
previous  year.  Depending  on  his  promise  to  call  for 
them  in  a  few  days,  we  sought  no  other  market.  Nearly 
a  month  passed,  and  when  the  tardy  buyer  finally  ap- 
peared, the  chicks  which  were  scarcely  up  to  desired 
weight  a  month  previous,  were  too  large  for  the  market. 
They  could  not  be  used.  Many  of  the  second  hatch 
were  also  beyond  the  market  demand,  and  much  of  his 
supply  must  come  from  the  third  incubator  hatch.  One 
cannot  nap  much  where  the  broiler  market  is  concerned. 
The  reason  for  this  finicky  attitude  of  the  buyers 
seems  hard  to  find.  That  is,  it  appears  so  to  the  average 
seller,  who  does  not  consider  the  source  of  the  broiler 
demand.  Much  of  the  call  comes  from  high  class 
boarding  houses,  restaurants,  and  hotels,  which  serve 
one-half  a  chicken  as  a  portion  to  the  table  customer. 
Of  course,  too  large  a  chick  costs  the  proprietor  too 
much,  as  he  charges  no  more  for  it  than  for  a  medium 
sized  one.  This  limits  the  broiler  call  to  two  pounds 
live  weight  or  less.  All  larger  stock  must  go  on  into 
the  season  to  sell  as  "roasters"  after  broilers  are  no 
longer  attainable  in  goodly  quantity. 


138      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

The  question  is,  must  we  lose  money  on  these  birds 
that  pass  the  broiler  stage?  That  will  depend  on  how 
fast  the  price  goes  down,  and  to  a  considerable  extent 
on  the  breed.  This  point  does  not  always  receive  suffi- 
cient consideration.  Up  to  broiler  age,  say,  one  and  one- 
half  pound  alive,  a  Leghorn  will  grow  nearly  as  well  as 
a  Wyandotte  or  any  of  the  larger  breeds,  and  a  cross  of 
Leghorn  on  the  larger  breeds  makes  a  very  good  stand-by 
for  a  quick  growing,  thrifty  broiler.  But  at  just  about 
this  period  the  Leghorn  begins  to  fall  behind.  Two 
months  later,  the  bird  of  the  larger  breed  will  weigh  one- 
half  more  and  will  have  eaten  little,  if  any,  more.  And 
this  question  of  number  of  pounds  plays  an  important 
part  in  that  profit,  after  the  price  per  pound  has  ceased 
to  be  of  such  paramount  importance  that  nothing  else  is 
considered. 

The  pound  and  a  half  broiler  would  have  brought  in 
June  forty-five  cents,  alive.  If  late  in  August  he  weighs 
three  and  a  half  pounds  and  brings  twenty  cents  a 
pound,  dressed,  he  will  be  worth  seventy  cents;  if  he 
weighs  five  pounds,  dressed,  at  twenty  cents  he  will 
bring  one  dollar;  in  either  case,  it  will  have  cost 
something  like  twenty  cents  for  extra  feed,  leaving  from 
ten  cents  to  thirty-five  cents  to  pay  for  waiting  on  him 
two  months,  dressing  him,  selling  him  to  private  custom, 
delivering  him,  besides  the  risk,  which,  between  cats, 
dogs,  owls,  crows,  thieves,  and  disease,  is  no  small  item. 


MAKING   A   PROFITABLE   WORKER       139 

It  is  this  large  risk  which  really  makes  poultry  raising 
so  —  well,  so  risky ! 

Still,  generally  speaking,  this  margin  will  not  make  it 
a  bad  bargain  for  good  handlers  to  keep  the  broilers 
for  later  roasters,  unless  their  room  chances  to  be  a  great 
deal  better  than  their  presence.  In  cases  where  prices 
for  roasters  drop  much  lower,  or  where  the  birds  are 
thoughtlessly  kept  till  the  holidays,  to  sell  almost  surely 
on  a  low  market,  the  profit  on  them  would  probably  be 
less  than  on  the  broilers,  especially  of  the  small  breeds. 
Indeed,  it  would  be  difficult  to  sell  the  cockerels  at  all, 
later,  if  hatched  very  early,  as  they  would,  if  Mediter- 
raneans, be  so  nearly  matured  as  to  come  into  the  hated 
"rooster"  grade,  in  the  city  market,  down  in  the  five 
and  six  cents  a  pound  column. 

It  amounts  to  this:  If  you  are  raising  many  early 
chicks,  in  order  to  get  the  precious  early  pullets  that 
make  the  early  winter  layers,  there  needs  to  be  the  ut- 
most care  that  the  cockerels  are  disposed  of  as  early  as 
the  market  will  take  them.  Many  of  those  who  raise 
Leghorns  for  layers  especially  have  been  fond  of  saying 
that  the  sale  of  the  broilers  just  about  paid  for  their  own 
raising  and  that  of  the  pullets.  But  to  make  this  come 
true,  the  cockerels  must  be  disposed  of  at  just  the  right 
period,  when  the  profit  over  their  own  cost  will  be  largest. 
The  first  cost  of  early  hatched  chicks  —  that  is,  the  eggs, 
oil,  attendance,  etc.,  needed  to  produce  them  from  the 


i4o      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

eggs,  before  attempting  to  raise  them  —  is  so  heavy  that 
no  chances  must  be  taken,  if  there  is  to  be  a  real  profit. 
Some  people  assume  a  profit  where  none  exists  by  ignor- 
ing first  cost  and  interest  on  investments. 

The  poultry  raiser  needs  always  to  recall  that  there 
are  "two  ends  to  a  ladder."  The  layer  herself  must 
be  of  the  right  type  to  fit  the  conditions.  She  must  be 
vigorous,  a  good  feeder,  a  good  exerciser,  a  bird  with 
some  brains  as  well.  But  to  make  her  highly  profitable, 
the  owner's  work  and  brains  must  be  linked  with  hers. 
It  is  as  much  "team  work"  as  some  athletics. 


EGGS   OF  THE   AMERICAN   BREEDS 

A  Standard  for  Eggs  —  Brown  Eggs  more  Abundant  —  Ideal 
Shape  —  The  Brown-egg  Breeds  —  Large  Eggs  —  Cold 
Storage  —Fertile  and  Infertile  —  Almost  Perfect  Fertility 
Possible  —  Losses  through  Infertiles 

OUGHT  a  variety  to  be  judged  by  its  eggs,  to  any 
degree,  beyond  exacting  that  a  popular  sort  must  lay 
many  of  them  ?  If  so,  why  is  the  one  law  for  Ameri- 
can breeders  silent  on  the  matter?  Is  it  practicable, 
indeed,  to  give  utterance  in  the  Standard  to  any 
law  concerning  eggs?  These  are  certainly  fair  ques- 
tions, and  when  raised  they  demand  a  fair  answer. 
There  are  many  seemingly  desirable  things  which  the 
American  Poultry  Association  has  found  it  impracticable 
to  try  to  bring  about.  Since  a  fowl  on  exhibition  must 
be  judged  by  what  she  appears  to  be,  it  seems  impossible 
to  demand  that  her  eggs  shall  play  any  part  in  her  own 
judging.  Doubtless  no  way  could  be  found  to  make 
sure  that  any  particular  lot  of  eggs  was  laid  by  any  one 
individual.  But  a  breed  standard  for  eggs,  whereby 
one  breed  might  be  judged  in  comparison  with  other 
breeds,  might  be  more  nearly  feasible. 

In  New  England,  where  from  very  force  of  circum- 
stance they  take  a  more  lively  interest  in  poultry  and 
141 


i42      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

poultry  products  than  is  shown  in  any  other  part  of  the 
country  of  equal  area,  a  standard  for  judging  eggs  was 
formulated  some  years  ago  with  which  many  would  be 
inclined  to  quarrel.  This  Standard,  while  allowing 
thirty  points  for  shape  and  forty  points  for  color,  gave 
but  fifteen  points  to  weight,  the  other  fifteen  going  to 
"condition,"  which  included  freshness  and  cleanliness 
when  the  eggs  were  exhibited.  The  shape  called  for 
was  oval,  and  the  color  for  brown  eggs  "very  dark 
brown."  In  my  opinion,  Boston  worked  that  "very 
dark  brown"  idea  quite  into  the  ground.  In  the  eyes  of 
the  majority  of  people  a  "brown"  egg  is  yellowish 
brown,  or  near  a  salmon  color,  possibly,  though  on  the 
brownish  side.  In  Boston,  for  a  time,  they  strove  for 
eggs  almost  as  dark  a  brown  as  one  could  imagine.  I 
submit  that  this  exceedingly  dark  brown  is  not  an  at- 
tractive color  for  an  egg.  Commission  men  doing  large 
businesses  in  certain  markets  have  stated  that  brown 
eggs  always  sell  better,  and  average  considerably  larger 
than  the  white  eggs.  Whether  they  were  preferred  or 
not  would  not  make  much  difference  just  now,  for  they 
are  offered  to  the  market,  which,  except  in  the  flush 
season  of  early  spring,  must  take  what  it  can  get.  It  is 
quite  probable  that  the  very  common  idea  that  brown 
eggs  are  "richer"  than  white  eggs,  has  to  do  with  this 
preference,  as  expressed  by  the  commission  men. 
There  is  no  authority  whatever  for  such  a  notion,  as 


EGGS   OF   THE   AMERICAN   BREEDS      143 

authoritative  chemical  analysis  has  fully  shown.  But 
the  rich  color  of  the  shell  and  the  richer  color  of  yolk 
in  a  brown  egg  affect  the  judgment  of  the  buyer, 
through  his  eyes,  to  such  an  extent  that  no  amount  of 
argument  will  overcome  the  preference  for  brown  eggs, 
except  in  markets  which  have  been  trained  to  prefer 
white  ones.  Since  it  is  claimed  that  the  Barred  Rocks 
are  the  most  widely  bred  variety  of  fowls  in  the  world, 
bred  by  a  greater  number  of  persons  and  in  greater 
numbers  than  any  other  variety,  and  since  they  are  sup- 
plemented —  if  other  breeders  will  accept  this  term  — 
by  the  other  varieties  of  Rocks,  and  by  Wyandottes, 
Reds,  and  other  American  birds,  besides  the  Asiatics, 
the  overwhelming  majority  of  the  brown  eggs  must  be 
assured. 

In  shape,  these  brown  eggs  do  run  mainly  toward  an 
oval,  and  sometimes  an  oval  so  short  as  to  be  almost 
round,  rather  than  to  the  shape  which  has  given  us  the 
term  "egg-shaped"  —  a  shape  smaller  at  one  end  than 
at  the  other.  While  it  is  possible  to  over-emphasize  this, 
the  ovoid  shape  is  certainly  the  most  desirable  shape  for 
the  egg,  and  this  shape  or  any  desired  shape  can  be 
fixed  in  a  few  years  by  persistent  selection.  It  is  be- 
cause breeders  are  pulled  this  way  and  that  by  the  oppos- 
ing demands  of  breeding  to  fancy  standards,  and  select- 
ing to  practical  standards,  that  we  do  not  make  more 
progress. 


144      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

The  Rock  lays  a  good-sized  brown  egg,  of  which 
she  seldom  needs  to  feel  ashamed.  The  Wyandotte 
has  improved  in  size  of  egg,  and  is  capable  of  still 
further  improvement.  The  Columbian,  being  the 
newest,  probably  needs  the  most  selection.  The 
Brahma  part  of  her  ancestry  is  surety  for  her  capacity 
for  producing  the  best,  in  due  time.  The  Buckeyes 
and  Rhode  Island  Reds  have  the  capacity,  I  think,  for 
producing  the  very  finest,  most  attractive  egg  imagin- 
able, the  pinky  brown  which  accords  with  their  general 
coloring.  Not  all  of  them,  by  any  means,  do,  at 
present,  produce  such  an  egg.  But,  since  it  is  in  line 
with  their  coloring  throughout,  and  since  some  do 
now  produce  it,  I  think  there  is  no  room  for  doubt 
that  these  birds  can  easily,  by  selection,  be  brought  to 
produce  this  ideal  egg. 

Not  one  of  these  brown-egg  breeds  can  be  named 
with  the  Minorca,  when  it  comes  to  size  of  eggs.  But 
any  of  them  is  easily  capable  of  producing  for  us  an 
egg  averaging  fully  up  to  —  or  even  above  —  the 
common  standard  of  a  pound  and  a  half  to  the  dozen. 
There  is  no  reason,  beyond  controlling  his  market, 
why  any  producer  should  desire  to  furnish  an  egg 
very  much  above  what  the  general  market  demands. 
It  is  not  desirable  for  a  medium-sized  bird  to  lay  an 
abnormally  large  egg,  and  the  egg,  as  at  present  known 
in  its  averages,  furnishes  as  much  concentrated  nutri- 


EGGS   OF  THE  AMERICAN   BREEDS      145 

ment,  in  its  one  handy  package,  as  the  average  person 
not  a  hard  worker  at  manual  tasks  ought  to  eat  at  one 
time.  I  know  a  man,  not  a  worker  at  severe  labor, 
who  often  eats  four  eggs  at  a  meal.  The  egg  is  so  pro- 
portionally high  in  protein  that  this  gives  him  more 
protein  in  eggs  alone  than  he  should  have  for  his  entire 
meal.  Of  course,  he  "complains"  much  —  has  diges- 
tive difficulties,  etc.  How  could  it  be  otherwise,  when 
a  single  egg  gives  one-third  the  entire  protein  needed 
for  a  meal? 

The  business  producer  wants,  of  course,  to  make  all 
he  can  out  of  his  products,  and  one  of  the  lines  along 
which  he  has  been  "speirin"'  is  that  of  cold  storage. 
We  might  think  cold  storage  wholly  an  evolvement 
from  the  Yankee  —  notably  the  Boston  —  mind,  if  we 
did  not  open  our  eyes  to  what  some  others  are  doing. 
Over  in  New  Zealand,  which  wants  to  export  large 
quantities  of  stuff  to  England,  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  has  taken  a  hand  by  appointing  receiving 
ports,  where  the  Government  will  take  chickens  from 
its  shippers,  kill,  dress,  pack,  freeze,  and  cold  storage 
them,  for  about  eight  cents  each  —  less  than  it  would 
cost  the  individual  to  get  it  done  independently. 
Birds  are  inspected  before  handling,  and  rejected,  if 
not  up  to  the  standard  to  which  all  such  stuff  is  re- 
quired to  conform.  Good  quality,  cleanliness,  and 
promptness  of  handling  are  thus  insured. 


i46      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

I  wonder  how  many  know  that  it  is  estimated  that 
from  70  per  cent  to  90  per  cent  of  all  the  poultry  pro- 
duced in  this  country  is  held  in  cold  storage  for  a 
greater  or  less  time.  Some  of  it  is  carried  as  long  as 
two  years,  and  some  refrigeration  companies  have  re- 
ported carrying  undrawn  poultry  "successfully"  for 
four  years.  Our  own  Department  of  Agriculture  is  on 
the  trail  of  the  cold  storage  people.  Investigation  has 
shown  that,  although  the  handlers  claim  that  the  stock 
does  not  deteriorate  essentially,  this  claim  is  not  wholly 
sustained,  especially  for  the  longer  periods.  The 
Department  planned,  some  time  ago,  for  a  series  of 
rather  elaborate  investigations,  in  connection  with  the 
cold  storage  people  themselves. 

Perhaps  the  most  important  thing  for  the  average 
buyer  to  know  about  cold  storage  chickens  is  that, 
when  thawed,  they  are  often  soaked  for  hours,  in 
water  of  moderate  temperature.  Naturally,  after  such 
treatment,  they  will  decompose  rapidly;  hence,  stock 
suspected  of  being  thus  handled,  should  not  be  held 
after  it  reaches  the  consumer.  Since  it  is  said  to  be 
"almost  a  matter  of  routine  that  every  chicken  in- 
tended for  market  should  sojourn  there  (in  the  cold 
storage  rooms)  for  a  certain,  or  rather,  an  uncertain 
time"  (see  the  Year-book  sent  out  by  our  Govern- 
ment) suspicion  needs  to  be  rampant. 

There  is  a  legitimate  use  of  cold  storage  that  might 


EGGS   OF  THE  AMERICAN   BREEDS       147 

easily  redound  to  the  benefit  of  the  producer,  near  the 
large  cities,  at  least.  The  refrigerating  plants  take  in 
large  quantities  of  eggs,  mainly  during  the  season  of 
lowest  prices,  and  this  is  a  reliable  means  of  relieving 
the  market  of  surplus  goods,  and  carrying  them  to  the 
periods  of  scarcity.  It  helps  to  insure  that  the  large 
markets  shall  have  a  steady  supply  of  meat  and  other 
products  of  a  perishable  nature.  The  producer  of 
eggs  in  greater  number  than  his  local  market  will 
take  and  remain  firm,  may  find  an  outlet  in  the  cold- 
storage  rooms,  where  his  product  may  be  held  till  he 
can  handle  it,  or  for  some  months,  until  it  has  ad- 
vanced notably  in  price.  The  charges  are  not  exorbi- 
tant, and  many  producers  should  take  advantage  of 
this  outlet.  There  is  no  other  method  of  handling  eggs 
so  satisfactory,  in  the  long  run,  as  selling  when  strictly 
fresh,  to  private  custom.  Where  markets  are  good, 
this  method  should  always  have  precedence.  But 
where  customers  are  not  willing  to  pay  fair  prices  in 
the  flush  season,  it  is  well  to  hold  the  product  for  better 
times. 

I  know  a  certain  very  small  village,  which  is  the 
outlet  for  a  back-country  apple-growing  district.  In 
furtherance  of  its  interests,  a  Board  of  Trade  has 
recently  been  formed,  more  immediately  to  install  a 
chemical  cold-storage  plant.  This  place  is  not  on  a 
main  line  of  railroad,  nor  is  it  within  forty  miles  of 


i48      HOW  TO   KEEP   HENS   FOR   PROFIT 

any  large  city.  Few  towns  might,  with  more  reason, 
say,  "Where  have  we  the  strength  to  carry  through 
such  an  enterprise?"  Yet  it  is  stated  that  all  present 
storage  capacity  is  filled  to  overflowing,  and  the  new 
venture  will  meet  a  demand  already  in  evidence.  Here 
is  distinctive  business  enterprise.  Fruit-growers  are 
learning  that  they  must  use  the  assistance  of  cold 
storage  nearer  home.  The  larger  poultry  producers 
might  take  a  lesson  in  modern  ways  of  enhancing  the 
value  of  their  products,  during  at  least  a  portion  of  the 
year,  and  of  compelling  the  nimble  dollar  into  their  own 
pockets. 

Partly  because  our  American  fowls  have  some  Asiatic 
blood,  partly,  perhaps,  because  breeds  have  been  newer, 
with  booms,  at  times,  which  called  for  more  products 
than  could  be  supplied  in  the  best  quality,  the  eggs  of 
the  American  varieties  have  not  always  hatched  as 
well  as  those  of  the  Mediterraneans.  The  losses,  in 
this  country,  through  infertile  eggs  alone  are  tre- 
mendous. I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  that  the 
American  varieties  are  notably  undesirable  in  this 
respect;  but  the  large  majority  of  the  birds  kept  in 
this  country  being  of  the  American  breeds  probably 
makes  it  true  that  these  breeds  bear  a  large  portion  of 
this  loss. 

There  is  a  point  of  view,  often  urged  with  reason, 
which  argues  strongly  for  the  infertile  egg  as  being  of 


EGGS   OF  THE  AMERICAN  BREEDS       149 

more  value  by  far  than  the  fertile  one  —  aside  from 
the  hatching  demand  —  because  of  its  superior  keep- 
ing qualities.  And  it  is  urged  that  care  to  produce 
only  infertile  eggs  for  sale  on  the  food  market  would 
save  to  the  country  the  very  large  losses  (sometimes 
50  per  cent  on  shipped  summer  eggs,  before  they 
reach  the  retailer  at  all)  which  result  from  the  spoiling 
of  eggs  while  on  the  devious  road  that  leads  from 
producer  to  consumer.  Incidentally  it  is  argued  that 
the  betterment  in  average  quality  of  farm  eggs  by  this 
simple  precaution,  would  make  for  better,  more  stable 
prices.  Whether  this  be  true  or  not,  the  mind  of  the 
thrifty  person  must  revolt  at  such  a  loss  of  good  food, 
especially  when  most  of  it  is  entirely  unnecessary. 

Concerning  eggs  for  incubation,  it  is  probably  quite 
well  within  the  truth  to  say  that  one-third  of  all  eggs 
set,  the  country  through,  prove  infertile  or  at  the  least 
unhatchable.  Allowing  this  to  be  the  case,  we  find 
that  there  must  be  not  less  than  sixty-four  and  one-half 
millions  of  infertile  eggs  almost  entirely  waste  every 
year.  At  but  fifteen  cents  a  dozen  the  value  of  these 
infertiles  is  more  than  eight  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
Some  fanciers  and  a  very  few  of  the  general  run  of 
poultry  raisers  have  learned  to  save  some  of  this  waste 
by  feeding  the  infertiles  to  the  young  when  first  hatched. 
But  even  this  is  only  a  makeshift,  for  eggs  are  worth 
but  a  trifle  more  than  poultry  meat  to  feed,  or,  per- 


ISO      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

haps,  three  cents  a  pound.  Medium-sized  eggs  run 
about  eight  to  the  pound,  making  the  value  of  eggs  for 
feed  less  than  five  cents  a  dozen. 

Many  a  business  under  the  strict  principles  of  trade 
makes  about  all  its  profits  out  of  its  "waste  products," 
it  is  said.  But  here  is  an  avocation  (which  is  often 
made  a  genuine  business,  too)  in  which  there  is  ignorant 
or  careless  waste  of  thousands  of  dollars  of  value.  It  is 
tootoften  supposed  to  be  a  necessary  part  of  the  expense; 
this  is  true  only  in  a  very  limited  sense.  Some  in- 
fertiles  there  will  always  be,  no  doubt.  But  it  is  certain 
that  knowledge  and  care  could  save  most  of  this  loss. 

As  the  farm  is  the  great  poultry  rearing  arena,  and 
also  the  place  where  most  of  the  loss  occurs,  it  is  properly 
the  place  to  begin  the  reform.  The  great  error  made 
on  the  average  farm  is  in  taking  the  eggs  for  hatching 
from  the  general  flock,  instead  of  selecting  the  best 
hens  —  only  a  few  —  and  yarding  them.  It  is  rather 
simple  to  make  sure  that  all  of  this  small  number  are 
layers  of  fertile  eggs,  while  it  would  be  a  virtual  impos- 
sibility to  test  the  entire  flock.  A  dozen  advantages 
follow  this  method  of  selection,  while  the  disadvantages 
are  but  one  or  two.  Of  course  there  is  the  expense  of 
yarding,  but  that  will  be  saved  the  first  year.  The 
other  difficulty  is  that  abundant  green  food  must  be 
furnished  to  breeders,  or  the  chief  object  will  be  frus- 
trated. 


EGGS   OF   THE  AMERICAN   BREEDS      151 

With  a  good  vigorous  cock  (the  best  fighter  in  the 
lot,  if  he  is  otherwise  good)  and  selected,  tested  hens, 
the  remaining  points  of  care  are  feed,  water,  shell 
material,  and  exercise.  If  an  egg  is  not  perfect,  it  can- 
not by  any  jugglery  be  made  to  produce  a  healthy 
chick.  Perfect  eggs  call  for  good  feed  and  water,  good 
digestion  in  the  hen,  and  shell  material,  besides  the 
exercise  that  promotes  health.  I  do  not  know  that 
we  have  any  patent  on  producing  fertile  eggs,  but  our 
eggs  have  been  for  several  seasons  so  far  above  the 
average  of  fertility  that  it  would  seem  that  our  methods 
were  about  right.  Those  methods  comprise  the  points 
named  and  a  somewhat  generous  use  of  meat  in  the 
ration  provided.  This  is  one  of  the  essentials.  It  can 
be  over-done,  of  course,  if  enough  is  fed  to  derange 
digestion. 

Probably  the  fancier  is  the  one  to  suffer  most  annoy- 
ance from  infertiles,  his  losses  being  so  much  larger  on 
each  brood.  They  are  larger,  not  only  because  the 
eggs  are  many  times  more  valuable,  but  also  because 
many  fanciers  do  not  provide  the  conditions  needed 
to  produce  eggs  of  good  average  fertility.  The  annoy- 
ance, the  loss  of  time  for  the  sitters,  the  loss  of  money 
in  the  eggs  unhatched,  the  unexpected  smallness  of  the 
midsummer  flocks  because  the  eggs  turned  out  so 
poorly,  make  up  a  total  not  pleasant  to  contemplate. 

The  trap  nests  which  have  sprung  into  such  sudden 


152      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

popularity  are,  once  secured,  the  best  help  toward  a 
knowledge  of  each  individual  hen's  fitness  for  the 
breeding  yard.  The  test  of  advance  incubation  for  a 
few  days  only  will  show  which  eggs  have  the  greatest 
average  fertility.  It  is  not  seldom  the  case  that  the 
eggs  of  an  excellent  layer  are  either  permanently  or 
temporarily  infertile.  When  this  is  the  case,  the  better 
layer  she  is  the  lower  will  be  the  percentage  of  fer- 
tility in  the  flock  of  which  she  remains  a  member, 
unless  her  eggs  are  known  and  removed.  In  a  flock 
of  ten,  one  extra-good  layer,  if  her  eggs  are  not  fertile, 
may  alone  push  the  percentage  considerably  below 
ninety.  This  matter  needs  attention,  if  we  would  save 
the  tremendous  wastes  mentioned  earlier.  This  one 
hen,  if  her  duplicate  exist  in  each  breeding  yard  of 
ten  hens  the  country  through,  means  a  loss,  in  aggregate, 
of  well  toward  two  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  breeds  vary  in  the 
matter  of  fertile  eggs,  largely  in  the  ratio  of  their 
activity.  This  is  the  case  also  with  individual  birds; 
hence  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  select  cocks  of  medium 
size  for  their  breed,  and  notable  in  their  breed 
for  individual  vigor  and  activity.  The  number  of 
females  in  the  yard  must  vary  with  the  breed.  A 
fair  number  is  better  than  too  few.  If  the  "pen"  is 
small,  the  cock  may  run  with  other  birds  one  day 
out  of  three. 


EGGS   OF  THE  AMERICAN   BREEDS      153 

A  method  for  the  cure  of  this  difficulty  that  has 
been  adopted  in  England  shows  plainly  enough  that  it 
is  there  regarded  as  a  matter  of  care,  or  the  reverse. 
This  method  is  to  replace,  free  of  charge,  all  infertiles 
that  are  proved  to  come  from  eggs  sold  from  any  indi- 
vidual fancier's  yards.  When  he  knows  that  any  pos- 
sible loss  from  this  cause  will  come  out  of  his  pocket 
instead  of  that  of  his  customer,  the  percentage  of  fer- 
tility takes  a  sudden  and  almost  unaccountable  rise. 
Precautions  are,  of  course,  taken  to  assure  the  breeder 
that  it  is  the  eggs  sold,  and  not  substitutes,  that  are 
returned. 

Many  eggs  are  mistakenly  supposed  infertile,  when 
they  are  really  chilled.  Both  breeder  and  buyer  need 
to  exercise  care  in  connection  with  this.  Eggs  must  be 
gathered  often  in  cold  weather,  and  never  should  a 
sitter  then  receive  more  than  eleven  eggs,  while  nine 
would  be  better.  Later  in  the  season  more  can  be 
allowed,  but  experience  says  not  over  thirteen  even 
then  for  best  results.  Attention  to  the  points  noted 
on  the  part  of  both  fancier  and  farmer  will  make  a 
wonderful  difference  in  the  year's  report. 

We  have  received  eggs  from  fanciers  who  knew  their 
business,  which,  after  being  carried  hundreds  of  miles, 
hatched  93  per  cent.  In  one  instance,  every  egg  but 
one  in  two  sittings  was  fertile.  We  cannot  expect 
every  fertile  egg  to  give  us  a  strong  chick,  as  an 


154      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

occasional  germ  will  die.  But  the  rule  is  that 
the  higher  the  percentage  of  fertility,  the  better  the 
hatch  not  only,  but  also  the  better  the  percentage 
of  chicks  that  are  strong  enough  to  weather  the 
ills  of  chickendom. 


AVERAGE  LAYERS  AND  THREE-HUNDRED- 
EGG   HENS 

What  makes  the  Best  Layer?  —  Good  Digestion  the  Key  — 
Some  Phenomenal  Records  —  The  Munchausen  Limit 

A  STATEMENT  recently  made  by  an  independent 
thinker  and  experienced  poultryman  is  put  in  a  way  to 
stimulate  thought  in  every  worker  interested  in  increas- 
ing the  laying  capacity  of  the  poultry  flock :  "  The  great 
layer  is  best  explained  as  an  individual  in  which  sys- 
tematic effort  to  increase  egg  production  has  reached 
a  limit."  This  is  linked  with  the  affirmation  that  the 
hen  with  a  big  record  in  her  pullet  year  is  not  so  likely 
to  produce  heavy  layers  as  a  hen  that  is  a  more  moder- 
ate layer.  If  this  is  admitted  to  be  proved  —  and  the 
experience  of  many  breeders  upholds  it  —  would  it  not 
be  wiser  in  the  long  run  for  the  general  worker  to 
cease  the  continuous  effort  to  increase  this  one  charac- 
teristic directly  and  put  his  strength  on  increasing  the 
output  by  increasing  the  constitutional  vigor  of  the 
entire  flock? 

It  is  quite  generally  admitted  that  the  hen  with  the 
best  appetite  and  the  best  digestion  is  likely  to  make 


156      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

the  best  layer,  other  things  being  equal.  It  is  more 
than  suspected  that  a  good  part  of  the  unusual  success 
with  new  stock  on  trial  lies  in  the  extra  care  which  it 
is  likely  to  receive.  It  is  well  known  that  in  most 
cases  a  flock  under  average  handling  will  "runout" 
after  a  few  years.  This  must  mean  that  the  handling 
under  which  it  exists  is  not  what  it  ought  to  be  for 
thrift  and  vigor.  Handling  includes  living  conditions, 
breeding  conditions,  feed,  water,  care,  etc. 

Just  over  the  way,  for  instance,  is  a  new  poultry- 
house  in  which  the  fowls  are  not  thriving,  and  the 
owners,  who  have  kept  fowls  before,  are  wondering 
why.  The  whole  story  —  as  it  is  now  summer  —  may 
be  told  in  the  brief  phrase,  "Lack  of  shade  and  air." 
The  place  they  left  was  an  old  one,  with  normal  condi- 
tions of  shade,  etc.,  and  this  phase  of  handling  has  not 
had  to  be  considered.  So,  on  most  farms,  the  abun- 
dance of  shade  permits  the  birds  to  care  for  themselves 
in  this  direction,  as  long  as  they  are  free  to  choose. 
But  suppose  that  a  mother  hen  is  cooped  with  her 
brood  in  full  sunshine,  with  a  water  dish  but  an  inch 
or  so  deep,  and  attended  to  three  times  a  day  only,  or 
left  to  the  care  of  careless  children.  She  is  bound  to 
suffer  greatly  from  heat  and  thirst  and  likely  to  lose  a 
good  proportion  of  her  brood,  no  matter  how  well  she 
is  fed. 

My  neighbor  is  now  on  a  new  place  without  trees. 


AVERAGE   LAYERS  157 

His  new  poultry-house,  built  at  considerable  expense 
by  a  high-priced  carpenter,  stands  in  full,  open  sun- 
shine, and  often  with  the  doors  closed.  With  all  win- 
dow openings,  except  the  closed  glass  ones,  perma- 
nently covered  with  cotton  cloth,  and  with  all  these 
openings  on  the  south,  the  house  is  an  oven,  in  which 
the  fowls  receive  daily  roastings  while  still  wearing  their 
feathers.  It  is  really  a  house  built  for  cold  weather, 
and  there  is  no  natural  provision  for  protecting  it  in 
summer;  while  the  owners  are  not  awake  to  the  neces- 
sity of  artificial  protection.  This  is  only  one  item. 
Admit  a  similar  lack  of  adjustment  of  thought  all  along 
the  line,  and  it  will  be  seen  that  the  hen  stands  a  rather 
poor  chance  of  being  able  to  do  her  best,  in  many 
hands. 

On  the  other  hand,  give  her  the  best  of  housing,  the 
best  of  feed,  the  best  of  all  around  conditions,  then 
throw  out  from  her  number  any  that  show  signs  of 
not  responding  properly  to  this  care.  Continue  this 
high  average  treatment  from  year  to  year,  and  the 
flock  can  scarcely  fail  to  increase  in  average  output. 
This  selection  may  be  helped  to  quite  a  degree  by 
throwing  out  all  but  the  best  eggs  when  selecting  for 
hatching. 

It  takes  all  sorts  of  people  with  all  sorts  of  notions, 
derived,  it  may  be  assumed,  from  experience,  testi- 
mony, or  imagination,  to  make  that  part  of  the  world 


158      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

which  raises  poultry.  I  have  seen  it  stated  by  a  man 
who  is  regarded  as  an  authority  that  breed  makes  not 
one  particle  of  difference  in  output;  others  think  the 
breed  is  the  whole  thing.  One  man  states  that  the 
whole  fowl  economy  is  set  toward  reproduction,  and 
that  it  matters  little  in  what  state  the  individual  bird 
may  be,  it  will  inevitably  tend  to  reproduce,  and  will 
not  suffer  in  this  function  because  of  disease  in  other 
parts.  But  a  far  more  sensible  view  is  that  practically 
all  other  functions  are  dependent  on  the  digestive 
processes.  "The  blood  is  the  life"  of  every  part,  and 
on  the  digestive  function  depends  the  quality  of  the 
blood,  very  largely. 

General  average  laying  must  needs  depend  to  a 
great  degree  upon  digestion;  digestion  must  depend 
on  proper  feed  and  abundant  supply  of  fresh  air. 
Good  health,  established  in  a  bird  both  through  ances- 
try and  in  its  own  healthy  life  previous  to  maturity, 
must  of  necessity  be  better  than  a  semblance  of  health 
that  must  be  striven  for  because  of  unthrift  in  the 
previous  generation  or  constitutional  delicacy  in  the 
individual.  The  problem  of  raising  phenomenal  layers 
from  the  best  in  hand  is  difficult;  the  problem  of 
greatly  improving  the  average  laying  of  the  whole 
flock  through  rigid  selection  for  thrift  and  through 
good  care  is  one  within  the  solving  of  every  one  who 
will  take  sufficient  trouble. 


AVERAGE   LAYERS  159 

An  English  writer,  speaking  of  the  fine  averages 
made  in  the  Australian  competitions,  emphasizes  the 
fact  that  the  greatest  point  made  by  the  breeders  of 
these  Australian  layers  is  strong  constitution.  He  adds 
that  the  lowest  pens  in  the  year's  laying  competition 
have  reached  an  average  that  would  be  considered  good 
on  most  English  farms. 

General  averages  are  the  result  of  averaging  other 
"averages,"  so  that  we  need  to  know  just  what  we  are 
considering  when  we  talk  about  "averages."  For 
instance,  at  one  of  the  best  experiment  stations,  the 
average  loss  in  stock  for  last  year  was  25  per  cent  in 
three-year-old  hens,  and  above  20  per  cent  for  all  the 
hens  kept.  Most  poultry  raisers  are  willing  to  admit, 
I  think,  about  5  per  cent  of  loss  per  year.  Yet  one  of 
the  big  egg  farms,  carrying  over  two  thousand  layers, 
asserts  that  for  an  entire  year  not  a  single  bird  was  lost ! 

With  eggs,  the  matter  is  still  more  complicated,  as 
there  is  a  wider  range  of  variation.  From  the  general 
average  of  the  farm  hen,  the  country  over,  which  our 
statistics  assure  us  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  six  dozens 
a  year,  it  is  a  long,  uphill  pull  to  the  average,  "from 
one  hundred  and  forty  to  one  hundred  and  fifty"  which 
are  ascribed  to  Mr.  Prescott's  birds.  Mr.  Prescott  is 
a  notable  example  of  a  man  who  makes  circumstances 
bend  to  his  adaptations,  and  his  averages  are  the  best 
I  have  known  where  such  large  numbers  of  stock  are 


160      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

carried.  When  I  was  at  his  plant,  he  had  about  sixteen 
hundred  layers,  but  a  new  wing  stood  ready  to  accom- 
modate eleven  hundred  more.  They  were  all  Barred 
Rocks,  and  the  flocks  were  the  largest  I  have  known. 
I  doubt  if  another  man  in  the  country  could  get  as  good 
results  with  the  same  methods. 

A  step  that  strains  our  powers  is  that  still  upward 
to  the  claimed  average  of  above  two  hundred  for  50  per 
cent  of  the  pullets  raised,  from  a  New  England  Wyan- 
dotte  breeder.  He  also  claims  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
seven  as  an  average  for  the  entire  (large)  flock.  The 
one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  average  of  a  flock  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty-five  Barred  Rocks  in  the  hands  of 
a  Pennsylvania  breeder,  "in  three  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  days  from  the  time  they  reached  laying  maturity,'* 
is  also  notable.  I  figure  that  the  average  of  the  above 
"averages,"  without  regard  to  the  numbers  performing, 
is  a  little  above  one  hundred  and  sixty;  but  when  we 
remember  that  there  are  hundred-millions  of  the  low- 
average  farm  hens,  and  only  a  few  hundreds,  at  best,  of 
the  heaviest  layers,  we  may  see  how  much  nearer  the 
six  dozens  than  the  two  hundred  mark  the  great  general 
average  must  fall. 

With  little  direct  comment,  I  wish  to  refer  to  the  most 
striking  claims  being  made  at  the  present  time.  It 
appears  that,  since  several  prominent  editors  have  come 
out  so  strongly  in  asserting  the  mythical  character  of 


AVERAGE  LAYERS  161 

the  two-hundred-egg  hen  —  except  as  an  occasional 
freak  of  nature  —  a  swarm  of  claimants  has  arisen  to 
say  nay !  nay !  to  these  assertions. 

The  first  whom  I  shall  mention  is  L.  F.  Van  Orsdale, 
a  man  who  at  least  has  the  courage  of  his  convictions. 
He  reports  one  hen  as  laying  two  hundred  and  five  eggs 
in  her  first  year,  one  hundred  and  seventy-two  in  her 
second ;  at  the  end  of  which  time  the  eggs  were  averag- 
ing thirty-one  ounces  per  dozen,  nearly  a  third  more 
than  the  common  market  average  desired.  Another, 
a  White  Plymouth  Rock,  laid  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  eggs  in  a  year.  Mr.  Van  Orsdale  has  been  trap- 
nesting  and  working  for  high  averages  for  a  series  of 
years,  and  reports  quite  a  number  of  hens  as  going  above 
the  two-hundred-egg  mark. 

Professor  H.  C.  Pierce,  Iowa  State  College,  reports  two 
two-hundred- and-ten-egg  hens,  one  of  which  laid  two 
hundred  and  four  eggs  in  her  third  year,  something 
quite  unexpected. 

The  published  record  of  U.  R.  Fishel's  White  Plym- 
outh Rock  hen  "Irene"  is  two  hundred  and  thirteen; 
the  Cornell  Station  also  reports  a  two-hundred-and- 
thirteen-egger,  this  record  being  made  in  two-hundred- 
and-sixty-one  days,  and  beginning  in  January.  The 
Maine  Station  reported,  as  covering  several  years'  work, 
an  aggregate  of  forty  hens  laying  between  two  hundred 
and  two  hundred  and  fifty-one  eggs  within  a  year,  — 


162      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

these  chiefly  Barred  Rocks;  but  one,  laying  two  hun- 
dred and  eight  eggs,  being  a  White  Wyandotte. 

A  Wyandotte  breeder  of  the  Middle  West,  Ira  C. 
Keller,  of  Ohio,  reports  a  Silver  Wyandotte  with  a  rec- 
ord of  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven,  a  Golden  Wyan- 
dotte credited  with  two  hundred  and  thirty-six,  and  a 
White  Wyandotte  whose  record  reached  two  hundred 
and  forty-three.  F.  Gage  Cutler  reports  an  average  of 
above  two  hundred  and  forty-four  with  five  White 
Wyandotte  hens,  the  best  of  which  gave  two  hundred 
and  fifty-three  eggs  in  eleven  months. 

J.  W.  Park,  Altoona,  is  the  Pennsylvania  man  who 
reported  the  average  of  one  hundred  and  ninety-eight  for 
one  hundred  and  thirty-five  hens,  individuals  among 
these  being  credited  with  from  two  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  to  two  hundred  and  fifty-two  each.  Z.  N.  Allen, 
in  a  competition,  reported  twelve  Barred  Rocks  as  lay- 
ing an  average  of  two  hundred  and  sixty-two  eggs  each, 
with  the  help  of  red  pepper  once  a  week.  G.  Redkey, 
Ohio,  also  in  competition,  reported  eight  White  Rocks 
having  an  average  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  each; 
while  W.  S.  Stevens,  in  the  same  competition,  reported 
a  pen  of  White  Rocks  as  averaging  two  hundred  and 
eighty-nine.  I.  K.  Felch  bought  one  of  these  birds, 
which  he  reported  as  having  an  average  of  two  hundred 
and  eighty-five  eggs.  The  last  great  stride  —  to  three 
hundred  and  thirty-four  —  is  represented  by  a  Barred 


AVERAGE   LAYERS  163 

Rock  reported  by  C.  C.  Loring,  the  New  England 
breeder  who  has  exploited  the  Buttercups  in  this  coun- 
try. In  1904  the  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry  reported 
the  "  Sicilians  "  ("  Sicilian  Buttercups  ") ,  on  the  authority 
of  Mr.  Loring,  as  brought  here  in  war  times  by  a  sea- 
captain  (oft-repeated  story),  and  that  only  one  other 
importation  could  be  found  recorded.  The  birds  are 
of  medium  size,  and  the  eggs,  according  to  this  report, 
are  said  to  be  extra  large  and  beautifully  white.  The 
Government  writer  adds :  "  The  advocates  of  this  breed 
believe  it  can,  by  proper  selection  in  breeding,  soon  be 
made  to  produce  three  hundred  eggs  per  year.  It  has 
already  considerably  exceeded  the  two-hundred-egg 
mark."  This  breed  now  claims  a  record  of  three  hun- 
dred, which,  if  often  duplicated,  would  doubtless  make 
of  it  soon  an  American  breed,  at  least  as  to  distribution. 

It  has  been  said  that,  in  a  previous  generation,  a 
man  who  talked  of  two-hundred-egg  hens  would  have 
been  regarded  as  a  fool.  Also,  that  many  a  man  is  set 
down  as  a  fool  to-day,  if  he  ventures  to  claim  that  the 
three-hundred-egg  hen  is  a  possibility.  The  writer 
concludes  with  the  affirmation  that,  while  there  are  to- 
day a  few  advocates  of  the  three-hundred-egg  hen, 
"  they  are  generally  regarded  as  a  little  off  in  their  cal- 
culations." 

There  is  little  doubt,  I  think,  that  the  average  of  the 
six-dozen-a-year  poultry  raisers  look  upon  the  men 


1 64      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

who  report  two-hundred-and-seventy-five  and  three- 
hundred-egg  hens  as  actualities,  as  being  Munchausens 
of  purest  descent.  And  it  is  certain  that  stories  of  the 
three-hundred-egg  hens  lead  directly  to  such  tales  as 
that  recently  in  print,  of  the  big  celebration  in  a  certain 
foreign  country  because  a  phenomenal  hen  had  just  laid 
her  thousandth  egg.  It  was  said — I  do  not  know  with 
how  much  truth  —  that  our  Government  took  the 
trouble  to  follow  up  this  story,  to  find  out  how  much 
of  it  was  true. 

Another  golden  nugget  of  the  same  mining  appeared 
recently  in  New  York.  It  was  dated  from  a  New  Jersey 
town,  and  described  the  wonderful  hen  owned  by  Mrs. 
W.  A.,  of  that  place,  famous  through  having  produced 
one  hundred  eggs  a  month.  It  was  stated  that  this 
hen  frequently  laid  seven  eggs  a  day.  The  vivacious 
correspondent  who  reported  the  story  took  the  precau- 
tion to  kill  the  hen  before  the  story  went  out;  which 
was,  perhaps,  all  the  commentary  needed ! 

A  New  England  man  once  reported  one  of  these  ab- 
normal layers,  at  a  time  when  such  reports  made  much 
more  stir  than  they  now  do.  He  trap-nested  assidu- 
ously, kept  careful  records,  and  made  a  study  of  his 
birds,  in  the  interests  of  progress  along  every  line.  He 
was  a  keen  business  man,  and  his  conclusion  was  that 
the  two-hundred-egg,  hen  would  reproduce  herself  just 
about  as  often  as  the  ninety-five-point  fancy  fowl,  a  flock 


AVERAGE   LAYERS  165 

of  two-hundred-egg  hens  being  about  as  easy  to  get  as 
a  flock  of  ninety-four-point  hens.  He  contended  that 
to  force  a  fowl  and  to  continue  the  process  beyond  her 
natural  ability  would  result  in  the  same  deterioration 
that  forcing  a  race-horse  to  do  the  work  of  a  draught- 
horse  would  insure.  "With  hens,  it  does  not  always 
result  in  the  death  of  the  fowl,  though  I  am  sure  the 
breeder  is  fortunate  who  gets  his  proof  so  quickly." 
Meaning  that  the  quick  death  of  such  a  bird  would  save 
the  owner,  from  injuring  his  flock,  perhaps  irremediably. 

When  we  remember  that  the  flock  which  sets  out  to 
lay  three  hundred  eggs  each  in  one  year,  has  only  two 
hundred  and  seventy-five  days  in  which  to  make  this 
record,  exclusive  of  the  three  months  usually  allowed 
for  the  moult,  it  certainly  looks  dubious.  And  if  any 
bird  lay  six  days  out  of  seven,  as  a  usual  thing,  or  about 
twenty-five  eggs  a  month,  say,  she  will  be  obliged  to 
hold  this  pace  steadily  throughout  every  month  in  the 
year.  From  this  showing,  it  looks  as  though  "the 
masses"  need  not  expect  to  raise  three-hundred-egg 
hens  until  we  find  some  means  of  omitting  the  moult. 
At  present,  the  moulting  period  must  define  for  us  that 
"limit"  of  which  the  writer  first  quoted  in  this  chapter 
speaks. 

The  "egg  type"  that  has  been  so  much  written  of  has 
had  many  defenders,  a  few  questioners;  ten  years  ago 
there  were  few  of  the  latter  at  any  rate.  Later,  they 


1 66      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

arose  in  rather  goodly  numbers,  and  at  one  time  it 
looked  as  though  this  favorite  idea  of  a  type  of  fowl 
which  would  show  by  her  build  that  she  was  an  extra- 
good  layer  —  a  type  toward  which  all  utility  egg  workers 
ought  to  aim  —  would  fall  to  the  ground.  Now  it  is 
coming  up  stronger  than  ever,  it  seems.  The  oblong 
body,  with  equal  breast  and  posterior  weight,  divided 
at  the  shanks,  is  urged  to  be  the  desired  type,  and  it  has 
been  said  that  the  pictures  of  the  best  layers  would  prove 
the  contention.  Before  I  saw  this  affirmation,  I  had 
been  struck,  in  looking  at  the  pictures  of  the  leading 
claimants,  to  note  how  very  far  these  pictures  were  from 
the  described  "egg  type"!  With  perhaps  one  excep- 
tion, as  shown,  they  overbalance  most  decidedly  at  the 
breast;  the  " three-hundred-and-thirty- four-egg  hen," 
especially,  shows  scarcely  a  third  of  her  weight  back  of 
the  shanks.  The  position  in  which  she  is  photographed 
may  tend  a  little  toward  this  appearance,  as  one  foot 
and  the  body  are  thrown  forward;  but  even  allowing 
this,  the  heavy  anterior  weight  must  be  allowed  to  be 
much  exaggerated  over  that  of  average  fowls.  We 
could  surely  wish  it  otherwise,  for  all  poultry  raisers 
would  like  to  be  assured  of  a  definite  egg-type  toward 
which  they  could  breed  with  confidence. 


EGG  FOODS:  CAN  THEY  INSURE  US  A 
TWO-HUNDRED-AND-FIFTY-EGG  HEN? 

The  Hen  which  appreciates  Publicity  —  Station  Work  and 
Bulletins  —  Carbolic  Acid  and  Cantharides  —  Formulas  — 
Condiments  will  not  do  for  the  American  Hen 

IT  was  a  very  shrewd  writer  who,  having  very  little 
experience  with  the  poultry  business,  as  compared  with 
those  who  have  devoted  their  best  years  to  it,  produced 
a  book  filled  chiefly  with  the  experiences  of  others, 
which  sold  like  the  traditional  hot  cakes.  Why?  Just 
because  it  promised  something  hitherto  impossible,  at 
least  to  the  majority  —  the  two-hundred-egg  hen.  For 
the  same  reason,  thousands  are  ruining  their  birds  by 
feeding  heavily  with  stimulants  declared  to  be  egg  pro- 
ducers. Up  to  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  eggs  a  year 
(with  one  extra  in  leap  year),  appearances  indicate 
that  some  promoter  will  in  time  go  with  his  promises. 
Beyond  that  —  well,  time  will  show. 

For  a  forced  product,  forcing  foods,  of  course  !  The 
sale  of  them  is  incredibly  large,  and  they  go  chiefly  to 
town  beginners  and  to  farmers.  Some  time  ago,  I  went 
into  the  salesroom  of  a  Farmer's  Exchange,  in  another 
state,  and  the  most  conspicuous  ware,  occupying  large 
167 


168      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

shelf  space,  was  a  certain  poultry  and  stock  food; 
"guaranteed"  to  do  the  impossible. 

Printers'  ink  is  responsible  more  than  any  other  one 
thing  for  such  a  state  of  affairs.  It  is  used  freely  in 
legitimate  stories  of  experience,  records  of  experiment, 
instructions  for  working,  etc. ;  in  advertising,  in  exploit- 
ing a  thousand  and  one  schemes  for  getting  the  cash  of 
a  more  or  less  willing  public.  But  Uncle  Sam  is  the 
most  voluminous  editor  in  all  our  broad  country,  and 
his  efforts  lie  in  attics,  rest  on  shelves,  unused,  may- 
hap bolster  up  the  baby  when  she  needs  a  higher  chair; 
but  at  any  rate,  do  not  receive  the  study  or  the  credence 
which  they  deserve. 

The  one  great  value  of  the  Government  and  state 
bulletins  to  the  farmer  or  the  beginner  in  any  line  of 
work  is  that  they  are  conservative  and,  in  the  main, 
consistent.  It  is  charged  by  those  who  stand  in  the 
front  line  of  instructors  in  poultry  culture  that  the  ex- 
perimenters who  get  out  these  bulletins  are  doing  pri- 
mary work  instead  of  studying  up  the  knotty  problems 
which  bother  advanced  workers.  This  is  often  true, 
and  I  think  we  need  to  be  thankful  that  it  is  true  to 
quite  a  large  extent;  for  it  is  primary  teaching  that  is 
most  needed  by  the  rank  and  file,  and  it  is  conservative 
statement  alone  that  will  save  thousands  from  putting 
money  into  poultry  that  they  will  never  get  out  again." 

Recently  printers'  ink  gave  to  the  public  a  statement 


EGG  FOODS  169 

from  a  writer  fairly  known  and  favored  by  a  few  journals 
that  any  one  who  acts  with  intelligence  and  care  can  get 
at  least  two  hundred  eggs  a  year  from  each  layer  that 
he  ought  to  keep,  and  that  his  own  results  have  always 
been  more  than  four  dollars  profit  a  year  per  hen,  be- 
yond the  cost  of  the  feed.  This  is  supposed  to  be  at 
average  market  price.  I  doubt  if  there  is  another  in 
this  country  willing  to  father  such  a  statement. 

However,  it  was  not  this  that  stirred  me  up  to  this 
writing,  but  one  or  two  other  items  in  the  public  press. 
The  first  was  from  California,  the  place  of  large  hap- 
penings, especially  in  poultry,  and  records  that  a  hen  of 
one  of  the  newest  breeds  laid  an  egg  every  day  from 
the  first  week  in  June  till  the  following  February,  and 
between  February  and  the  middle  of  August  weaned 
three  broods  of  chicks  and  was  again  laying.  The  com- 
panion item  concerned  a  hen  directly  descended  from 
the  flocks  of  a  man  who  used  printers'  ink  in  adver- 
tising—  a  hen  which  very  evidently  knew  what  the 
publicity  situation  demanded.  She  had  laid,  as  the 
story  went,  beginning  at  mid-winter  to  a  day,  two  hun- 
dred and  twelve  eggs  in  two  hundred  and  twelve  con- 
secutive days,  and  was  still  laying  when  the  report  was 
sent  in.  One  can  only  guess  that  the  story  was  not 
withheld  till  a  better  one  could  be  told,  because  of  the 
fear  of  the  owner  that  a  bigger  tale  would  scarcely  be 
believed  by  an  intelligent  public ! 


1 70      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

In  any  matter  so  far  from  the  general  experience  of 
the  thousands  of  people  who  raise  poultry  every  year 
as  the  making  of  egg  records  of  more  than  two  hundred 
eggs  a  year,  I  do  not  believe  that  private  records  that 
seem  phenomenal  should  be  published.  They  can  work 
only  harm  to  the  great  majority  of  readers  interested 
in  poultry  returns.  And  it  certainly  is  good  sense  to 
take  with  a  little  salt  any  prodigious  story  issuing  from 
a  private  source,  particularly  when  the  teller  has  an  axe 
that  might  be  sharpened  by  public  credence.  In  other 
words,  it  is  decidedly  better  for  the  average  reader,  and 
more  particularly  for  the  beginner,  to  study  authoritative 
bulletins  issued  by  men  whose  work  is  before  the  public, 
and  who  have  no  axes  to  grind.  Some  little  allowance 
for  human  nature  must  always  be  made,  even  when 
considering  state  and  Government  work,  but  at  least 
the  chances  for  error  are  likely  to  be  much  lessened. 

Some  very  excellent  work  has  been  done  at  several 
of  the  state  Experiment  Stations,  and  the  results  are 
available  to  all  who  care  for  them.  It  is  true  that  one 
Station  was  called  "the  chief  offender  in  the  propaga- 
tion of  the  two-hundred-egg  fallacy,"  but  most  of  them 
are  careful  and  conservative.  Their  bulletins  are  safer 
guides  than  the  flaming  advertisements  of  those  who 
have  something  to  sell. 

The  following  letter  of  inquiry  may  serve  to  show  into 
what  difficulties  a  too  strong  desire  for  winter  eggs  may 
lead  the  zealous :  — 


EGG   FOODS  171 

"Will  you  kindly  advise  me  through  the  columns  of  your 
valuable  paper  in  regard  to  my  poultry?  They  were  doing 
finely  this  spring,  as  we  were  getting  forty  to  fifty  eggs  per  day 
from  sixty  hens.  We  fed,  all  the  winter  and  spring,  bran,  corn- 
meal,  and  potato  mash,  ground  meat  and  bone,  with  some  of 
the  'poultry  food'  which  I  saw  advertised  in  another  farm  paper 
composed  of  cantharides,  ginger,  gentian,  capsicum,  Venetian 
red,  sulphur,  charcoal,  and  oilmeal.  I  gave  whole  corn  at  night; 
also  oyster  shells  and  grit  with  plenty  of  chaff  to  scratch  in  and 
a  box  of  ashes  for  bathing.  They  have  a  large,  light  house,  not 
overwarm  in  winter. 

"  The '  poultry  food '  did  the  business  while  it  lasted,  as  my  hens 
went  from  two  or  three  eggs  per  day  up  to  forty  and  fifty  per 
day  in  two  weeks'  time,  but  since  we  stopped  its  use  they  nearly 
all  seem  to  be  ailing.  One  White  Leghorn  had  swelled  head  all 
winter.  About  a  month  since,  they  began  to  dump  and  lie 
around  and  sleep,  and  we  only  got  ten  or  twelve  eggs  a  day.  Just 
before  this  we  stopped  the  mash  and  'poultry  food,'  only  feed- 
ing corn  and  oats  nights,  as  they  had  full  run  of  the  farm.  Sev- 
eral Leghorns  and  Minorcas  died  with  bowel  trouble.  Some 
were  crop  bound,  and  the  'Rocks'  nearly  all  began  to  swell  in 
the  head  and  throat  and  are  not  able  to  eat.  I  pour  gruel,  with 
a  proprietary  'poultry  food'  down  them;  also  put  carbolic  acid 
and  belladonna  in  their  drinking  water  and  give  a  little  chlorate 
of  potash;  also  kerosene  and  turpentine  dip  for  the  head,  but 
they  do  not  seem  to  improve. 

"I  remember  that  about  the  time  their  heads  began  to  swell 
I  mixed  some  very  salty  chili  sauce  with  their  feed  one  morning. 
Could  the  trouble  have  come  from  that?  My  sitting  hens  and 
those  shut  up  with  broods  were  not  fed  the  mash  and  are  all 
right  yet.  What's  the  remedy  for  poison  from  salt?  About 
one-fourth  of  the  hens  that  were  fed  the  salt  are  affected." 


172      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

Reply :  Here  is  trouble  enough,  and  I  am  afraid  some 
of  it  has  been  caused  by  a  misconception  of  advice,  or  by 
a  serious  blunder  of  some  one.  Why  any  one  should 
recommend  cantharides  as  an  ingredient  of  a  poultry 
food  is  beyond  me  to  solve.  The  only  food  ingredient 
in  this  so-called  "food"  is  the  linseed  meal.  The  rest 
are  drugs,  and  the  cantharides  is  the  apothecaries'  "blis- 
ter flies,"  so  powerful  that  those  who  collect  them  are  in 
the  habit  of  using  gloves  and  veils  for  protection,  and 
of  which  the  hundredth  part  of  a  single  grain,  when  pow- 
dered and  of  full  strength,  is  sufficient  to  cause  blistering 
of  the  skin.  It  is  even  said  to  be  dangerous  to  sit  under  the 
trees  on  which  many  of  these  flies  are  collected,  and  the 
volatile  substance  which  they  emit  causes  inflammation 
of  the  eyes  and  lids,  irritation  of  throat  and  bronchia 
and  often  convulsive  sneezing.  Taken  internally,  they 
cause  heat  wherever  they  pass,  and  in  large  doses,  in- 
flammation and  even  death.  It  is  as  a  blistering  agent 
and  in  hair  preparations  that  cantharides  is  oftenest 
recommended. 

You  will  notice  that  your  report  of  the  difficulty 
with  the  hens,  the  trouble  being  chiefly  with  the  head 
and  throat,  follows  closely  the  line  of  what  might  be  ex- 
pected from  the  use  of  cantharides.  Yet,  as  you  say 
that  this  "food"  was  used  all  winter  and  spring,  the 
question  at  once  arises, "  Why  did  not  this  trouble  appear 
before;  indeed,  why  did  it  appear  only  after  the  stuff 


EGG   FOODS  173 

was  discontinued?"  I  can  only  conjecture  that  the 
dose  was  small,  and  that  the  effect  was  cumulative, 
having  reached  the  fatal  point  just  at  the  time  you  were 
ready  to  discontinue  it;  the  resistant  power  of  the  birds 
being  killed  by  it. 

There  is  another  point  on  which  I  am  at  a  loss,  and 
that  is  the  quantity  of  bone  meal  and  meat  used.  If  this 
was  heavy,  and  was  suddenly  discontinued,  in  this  alone 
would  perhaps  be  sufficient  cause  for  drop  in  egg  yield 
in  case  there  were  not  insects  to  take  its  place. 

Beyond  all  this,  however,  it  looks  as  though  these 
birds  have  genuine  roup  in  one  of  its  forms.  The  partic- 
ular form  which  has  the  symptoms  you  mention  is  diffi- 
cult to  cure  unless  taken  early,  and  is  likely  to  be  neg- 
lected as  of  little  importance  till  it  gets  fully  established, 
when  it  will  be  a  slow  fight  to  get  rid  of  it,  as  it  may  run 
for  several  weeks,  sometimes  months.  The  chief  reason 
of  this,  I  apprehend,  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  seat  of  the 
disease  is  the  portion  of  the  head  over  the  roof  of  the 
mouth.  Some  natural  discharge  ducts  being  stopped 
by  inflammation,  the  products  of  this  inflammation  are 
pushed  out  toward  the  eyes  and  around  them,  where 
they  have  not  much  outlet.  Directions  for  treatment 
usually  include  lancing  these  abscesses,  if  we  may  call 
them  such.  But  I  speak  from  experience  when  I 
say  that  this  is  not  ordinarily  feasible.  The  skin  is 
tough  and  the  contents  of  the  lumps  hard,  so  that  often 


174      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

the  results  of  lancing  are  not  satisfactory.  The  only 
successful  treatment  of  which  I  know  (beyond  internal 
use  of  aconite,  etc.,  and  external  applications  of  turpen- 
tine or  kerosene)  is  through  the  nostrils  and  cleft  of 
the  mouth.  Needless  to  say,  this  is  not  pleasant  to  the 
operator,  and  the  birds  object  strenuously,  as  it  is  painful. 
A  long-tubed  machine  oil-can,  by  means  of  which  cleans- 
ing medicines  can  be  injected  into  the  nostrils  and  roof 
of  the  mouth,  is  the  handiest  tool.  A  feather  will  reach 
the  roof  of  the  mouth,  but  is  likely  to  bend  and  slip 
aside,  not  reaching  the  point  of  difficulty.  Perhaps  in  a 
majority  of  instances  there  will  be,  at  later  stages  of  the 
affection,  canker  in  the  cleft  of  the  mouth.  Sometimes 
this  may  be  removed,  but  oftener  it  clings  too  closely  to 
be  removed  without  causing  much  pain  and  bleeding. 
A  drop  or  two  of  muriatic  tincture  of  iron,  applied  di- 
rectly to  the  canker,  will  brown  and  shrivel  it.  Re- 
peated applications  twice  a  day  will  cause  it  to  drop 
off  and  leave  the  mouth  fresh  and  clean.  Unless  this 
canker  is  conquered,  the  bird  will  not  improve.  Canker 
is  quite  apt  to  appear  first  in  the  corners  of  the  mouth, 
or  on  the  tongue.  Here  it  is  easily  handled,  if  one  will 
take  the  trouble  and  be  persistent.  But  let  it  reach  far 
into  the  windpipe,  and  few  cases  recover.  Sometimes 
it  appears  first  in  the  windpipe,  and  unless  the  bird  is 
very  valuable,  she  might  better  be  killed  at  once.  Per- 
manganate of  potash  and  many  of  the  roup  cures  are 


EGG   FOODS  175 

good,  if  used  as  above  recommended.  When  the  canker 
is  only  in  the  front  of  the  mouth,  it  may  often  be  handled 
by  using  the  roup  cures  or  one  of  the  two  drugs  I  have 
mentioned  in  the  drinking  water.  But  up  in  the  cleft 
it  demands  local  applications  in  full  strength,  and  these 
are  always  more  quickly  effective  on  canker  than  are 
the  dilute  liquids. 

Applications  of  kerosene  are  excellent  for  swelled 
head,  but  need  not  be  continued  every  day.  In  that 
case  the  head  would  soon  be  bald.  It  is  imperative  to 
separate  the  sick  from  the  well,  and  to  right,  if  possible, 
the  ill  conditions  which  brought  on  the  attacks.  Coop- 
ing in  a  shed  coop,  open  away  from  the  wind,  is  the 
surest  road  to  recovery.  Another  eager  correspondent 
wrote :  — 

"  Can  you  give  me  a  formula  for  the  proper  proportions  of  red 
pepper,  charcoal,  and  oilmeal  to  make  a  good  powder  to  feed  for 
egg  production?  Is  Venetian  red  of  any  value  for  eggs  or  is  it 
only  used  during  the  moulting  season?  " 

Reply:  Inasmuch  as  the  two  great  inquiries  at  this 
season  concern  getting  plenty  of  eggs  and  curing  roup, 
perhaps  we  cannot  do  better  than  to  consider  the  ingre- 
dients commonly  used  in  egg  foods  and  roup  cures,  thus 
getting  a  foundation  upon  which  to  work  out  our  own 
formulas.  This  is  infinitely  better  than  to  give  the  num- 
ber of  ounces  of  this  or  that  which  may  be  used  to  make 
a  certain  "cure"  or  nostrum. 


1 76      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

In  the  making  of  egg  foods,  a  study  of  the  subject 
will  show  both  drugs  and  foods  proper  used  as  ingre- 
dients. The  foods  have  food  value,  nothing  more,  ex- 
cept as  they  help  in  the  better  distribution  of  the  drugs 
through  the  mash.  The  drugs  are  often  stimulants, 
and  charcoal  is  added  to  most  preparations  because  it 
assists  digestion.  A  formula  which  I  used  to  some 
extent  a  number  of  years  ago  contained  sulphur, 
ginger,  fenugreek,  red  pepper,  linseed  meal,  parched 
corn,  and  wheat.  The  parched  grains  were  a  substitute 
for  charcoal.  Linseed  meal,  or  "oilmeal,"  as  farmers 
are  more  apt  to  call  it,  perhaps,  is  always  good  at  linseed 
meal  prices. 

When  we  come  to  the  drugs,  it  is  quite  probable  that 
the  red  pepper  is  the  only  one  that  is  desirable.  Fenu- 
greek was  formerly  considered  an  essential;  but  its 
strong  odor  always  told  the  secret,  when  it  was  present, 
and  it  has  also  lost  much  of  its  repute,  so  much  so  that 
the  author  of  a  book  on  "Popular  Names  of  Plants," 
published  in  1881,  says  that  it  is  "now  only  used  for  giv- 
ing false  importance  to  horse  medicine  and  damaged 
hay."  I  do  not  think  there  is  much  doubt  that  the  red 
pepper  is  the  important  ingredient  in  all  powders  fed  to 
stimulate  egg  production.  A  little  charcoal  is  always 
good  for  hens  in  confinement,  and  a  filler  like  linseed 
meal  is  always  good  and  necessary,  unless  the  pepper  is 
placed  directly  in  the  hot  water  before  mixing  the  mash. 


EGG   FOODS  177 

A  rule  I  have  seen  given  is  that  mash  should  be  seasoned 
with  red  pepper  in  the  same  proportions  as  would  be 
needed  for  human  food,  —  possibly  a  teaspoonful  to 
twenty  hens  once  a  day.  Please  note  that  I  do  not  say 
that  this  is  a  good  thing  to  feed,  from  all  points  of  view, 
but  only  that  it  will  stimulate  to  immediate  egg  produc- 
tion in  cold  weather.  I  have,  however,  seen  red  pepper 
strongly  recommended  in  a  health  volume  as  the  great 
cure  for  liver  derangements.  If  it  deserved  this  recom- 
mendation, nothing  could  be  better  to  use  for  fowls, 
as  much  of  the  treatment,  especially  when  they  are 
confined,  tends  to  liver  derangement.  But  physicians 
themselves  acknowledge  that  they  know  very  little  as 
yet  about  this  important  organ,  and  as  unprofessional 
treatment  of  animals  is  based  primarily  on  our  knowl- 
edge of  human  ailments,  it  follows  that  we  really  know 
very  little  about  treating  liver  diseases  in  fowls. 

Most  of  the  drugs  used  in  the  treatment  of  head  and 
throat  diseases  of  fowls  are  of  a  disinfectant  nature. 
These,  with  tonics,  and,  occasionally,  emollients,  nearly 
cover  the  ground.  Chlorate  of  potash,  permanganate  of 
potash,  peroxide  of  hydrogen,  and  tincture  of  iron  are 
most  commonly  used,  and  all  are  excellent.  Peroxide 
of  hydrogen  seems  more  painful  to  the  birds  than  most 
treatments.  There  is  nothing  much  better,  all  around, 
than  tincture  of  iron.  Used  clear,  it  will  cure  canker  in 
a  very  few  applications,  and  without  the  necessity  of 


178      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

taking  off  the  spots  before  application.  Ginger,  pepper, 
or  anything  that  keeps  up  internal  heat  or  stimulation 
is  good  for  internal  use.  Quinine  is  most  excellent. 
Kerosene  is  a  first-rate  application,  both  externally 
and  to  inside  surfaces  of  the  mouth. 

I  presume  nearly  every  one  has  failed  with  some  one 
or  more  of  these,  but  if  so,  it  is  chiefly  because  of  ineffi- 
cient work.  The  birds  must  be  placed  in  a  favorable 
situation,  and  treatment  must  be  thorough  and  regular, 
and  must  continue  for  several  successive  days.  Only 
on  these  terms  will  any  roup  medicine  perform  a  cure. 
And  if  the  disease  is  allowed  to  run  into  the  severer 
forms,  it  may  become  incurable,  or  the  bird  may  not  be 
worth  curing.  The  treatment  most  likely  to  be  effective 
is  the  one  which  reaches  mucous  surfaces,  and  while  it  is 
common  sense  to  take  the  disease  in  hand  before  in- 
dividual treatment  becomes  imperative,  it  does  some- 
times become  necessary  to  use  disinfectant  solutions 
with  a  syringe  or  oil  can,  through  the  nostrils  and  the 
cleft  at  roof  of  mouth.  When  necessary,  tincture  of 
iron,  one-third,  vaseline,  two-thirds,  may  be  used  as  a 
salve,  both  on  swelled  heads  and  on  inner  surfaces  of 
mouth ;  but  it  should  not  be  allowed  to  get  into  the  eyes. 
With  cases  taken  early  this  may  be  all  that  is  needed, 
if  quinine  is  given  as  a  tonic  for  a  few  days.  Tincture  of 
iron  is  also  used  in  the  drinking  water  —  the  ideal  way 
to  administer  medication  to  birds. 


EGG   FOODS  179 

There  is  a  Venetian  red  used  as  a  dye,  and  this  is 
the  Venetian  red  usually  meant,  as  far  as  I  am  able  to 
judge.  But  there  is  also  a  red  oxide  of  iron,  known  to 
some  as  Venetian  red.  This  is  sometimes  used  as  a 
tonic,  and  also  as  a  disinfectant  of  drinking  vessels 
in  hot  weather.  Personally,  I  have  used  only  cop- 
peras, and  that  a  good  many  years  ago,  before  I 
learned  to  let  such  things  alone.  As  a  disinfectant, 
copperas  has  a  good  place,  but  I  do  not  believe  either 
it  or  its  near  of  kin  to  be  good  to  feed. 

Stations  in  Massachusetts,  Virginia,  Connecticut, 
Canada,  etc.,  have  tested  the  effectiveness  of  con- 
dition powders  in  securing  heavy  egg  production.  Iron 
oxide,  ground  bone,  salt,  sulphur,  and  the  other  materi- 
als noted  above,  enter  into  them,  in  addition  to  com- 
mon feeds.  Feeding  stimulants  and  fatteners  showed, 
at  one  station,  that,  while  they  encouraged  egg  produc- 
tion in  the  small  varieties,  the  Asiatic  types  were  only 
made  too  fat,  and  soon  laid  soft-shelled  eggs.  Rocks 
and  Wyandottes  incline  toward  this  type  in  many  ways, 
and  fall  into  the  class  for  which  stimulant  drugs  in- 
tended to  increase  egg  production  are  prohibited. 
The  oily  meals,  too,  must  be  carefully  used,  when  con- 
structing feeding  formulas  for  the  larger  varieties. 


MOTHER  AND  CHICKS 

The  Friendly  Sitter  — Some  Defects  of  Temperament  —  The 
Perfect  Mother  —  Disquieting  Colors  in  Chicks  —  Downy 
Harmonies 

IN  the  matter  of  mothering  any  kind  of  young  poultry, 
I  think  the  American  hen  can  be  proved  to  be  as  superior 
to  all  others  as  she  is  superior  to  most  others  in  pro- 
ductive capacity  and  general  usefulness.  I  am  familiar 
by  actual  handling  and  breeding  with  about  all  the 
American  varieties  except  the  Javas  and  Dominiques, 
and  I  have  never  found  much  chance  for  fault  rinding 
in  this  respect,  in  any  of  these  breeds.  The  type  with 
much  length  of  leg  and  of  neck,  and  with  the  slabbiness 
that  characterizes  the  large,  rangy  breeds,  and  the  too 
actively  fussy  and  nervous  type  meet  on  happy,  middle 
ground  in  all  the  American  breeds.  Choice  of  variety 
within  breeds  is  quite  largely  a  matter  of  taste,  although 
it  may  easily  become  far  more  than  this  when  breeders 
introduce  outside  blood  into  a  variety  or  strain,  as  is  so 
often  done. 

Given  a  Rhode  Island  Red,  a  Wyandotte,  a  Buckeye, 
a  Java,  or  a  Plymouth  Rock,  the  chief  point  of  superi- 
ority as  one  attempts  to  prove  his  favorite  in  the  lead 
i  So 


MOTHER   AND   CHICKS  181 

must  be  along  the  line  of  extra  hardiness,  extra  com- 
pactness or  extra  capacity  for  heavy  laying.  This 
means  that  the  American  nation,  as  a  whole,  is  wedded 
to  the  American  type  rather  than  specifically  to  a  single 
breed  or  variety.  Within  this  type,  undoubtedly,  the 
future  great  American  favorite  will  be  found.  At  pres- 
ent they  are  nearly  all  great  American  favorites. 

What  points  do  we  require  in  a  bird  to  suit  American 
notions?  Medium  size,  compact  proportions,  good 
constitution.  We  want  a  bird  of  sufficient  hardiness 
to  hold  her  own  in  average  conditions,  an  easy  keeper, 
a  generous  layer.  Every  one  of  the  American  varieties, 
now  eighteen  in  all,  fills  this  demand  fairly  well.  One 
thing  more  we  ask,  in  spite  of  the  million-counted  incu- 
bator, offering  infant  machine-made  lullabys,  and  that 
is  that  our  satisfactory  bird  shall  be  a  good  mother. 
"  Good,"  as  applied  to  the  hen  mother,  takes  not  so 
much  account  of  her  individual  production  record  as  of 
her  disposition.  Being  of  the  desired  medium  size,  she 
must  also  be  quiet  natured,  faithful,  friendly  toward 
her  keeper,  and  motherly.  Above  all,  she  must  not 
be  fussy,  for  the  fussy  hen  breaks  eggs  and  tramples 
chicks  in  an  undue  effort  to  convince  the  public  that  she 
is  faithfully  doing  her  duty.  If  we  ask  the  fellow  who 
likes  some  other  variety  better,  how  the  Plymouth  Rock 
hen  ranks  as  a  mother,  he  will  say:  "She's  everlast- 
ingly wanting  to  sit,  and  she  is  selfish."  Ask  him  about 


i8a      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

the  Buckeye,  and  he  will  say :  "  You  can't  break  her  up 
any  more  than  you  could  break  up  the  original  rock- 
bound-coast  Plymouth  Rock,  and  she  lays  too  small 
clutches  before  wanting  to  sit."  Ask  him  about  the 
Rhode  Island  Red  and  the  Java,  and  he  will  intimate 
that  they  are  too  heavy  and  sit  too  hard.  Mention  the 
Columbian  Wyandotte,  and  he  will  hint  that  she  hasn't 
quite  sense  enough  to  get  things  right  every  time.  But 
when  it  comes  to  the  White  Wyandotte,  he  has  to  admit 
that  if  one  likes  the  sitting  breeds  at  all,  it  is  hard  to  find 
fault  with  the  White  Wyandotte  as  a  sitter  and  mother. 
That  is,  in  the  hands  of  a  good  and  quiet  handler. 
There  are  some  fussy  folk  who  could  make  any  hen 
fussy.  The  White  Wyandotte  can  be  moved  anywhere 
one  wants  to  have  the  hatchery  located.  She  will 
cuddle  two  or  three  dummy  eggs  with  careful  affection 
and  fluff  herself  amply  over  the  full  nest  of  genuine 
goods  when  she  is  finally  trusted  with  them.  She  is 
careful,  not  too  heavy  for  most  eggs,  faithful,  and  friendly. 
After  hatching,  she  is  carefully  solicitous  that  the  young 
have  sufficient  hovering.  If  neglected,  she  will  almost 
talk  in  her  effort  to  have  faulty  conditions  righted  by 
you.  The  Buckeye,  too,  is  an  exceptionally  good  sitter 
and  mother,  and  if  the  unfriendly  critic  above  men- 
tioned has  managed  to  find  a  weak  point  in  each  breed, 
even  among  the  favorite  American  sorts,  his  critical 
attitude  is  only  a  fair  balance  to  the  overzeal  of  their 


MOTHER  AND   CHICKS  183 

friends.  And,  really,  is  it  not  a  remarkably  good  breed 
in  which  only  one  flaw  can  be  found  when  considering 
it  from  any  special  point  of  view  ? 

A  few  nights  ago  a  man  went  in  late  to  his  supper, 
grumbling  that  he  would  never  start  an  egg  farm  with 
an  American  breed.  Well,  why  not?  I  have  heard 
this  same  man  say  that  no  other  bird  could  approach 
the  Columbian  Wyandotte  as  a  year-round  layer.  Just 
this  was  the  trouble:  It  was  about  the  first  of  June, 
when  the  sitting  fever  takes  the  birds  by  wholesale,  and 
he  was  "all  in,"  taking  sitters  to  jail  after  his  day's  work 
should  have  been  ended.  If  a  man  is  carrying  eight 
hundred  birds  of  the  sitting  varieties,  he  may  find  fifty 
or  sixty  sitters  almost  any  night  near  midsummer.  But 
nowhere  is  the  "back  to  nature"  call  stronger  than 
among  poultrymen,  and,  if  we  discard  incubators,  as 
many  are  doing  to  a  considerable  extent,  we  must  have 
sitters  to  hatch  the  chicks. 

Ten  years  ago,  when  all  the  trend  was  toward  the 
worship  of  incubators,  I.  K.  Felch  was  many  a  time 
jeered  at,  and  his  teaching  discounted.  This  was 
because  he  contended  that  the  machine-made  chick 
was  almost  invariably  inferior  to  the  nature-made 
article,  and  that  he,  personally,  could  detect  every  ma- 
chine-made bird  when  it  came  into  his  hands  for  judg- 
ing, at  or  near  maturity.  Now,  some  of  the  manufac- 
turers themselves  are  admitting  that  the  machine  is 


1 84      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

not  the  perfect  mother.  No,  the  American  hen  is  the 
perfect  chick  mother,  as  perfection  goes  at  present  writ- 
ing, and  the  eighteen  kinds  of  her  are  only  eighteen 
variations  of  near-perfection  along  this  line. 

A  large  number  of  those  who  may  become  interested 
in  purebred  fowls  suffer  considerable  agitation  of  mind 
concerning  the  color  of  the  new-hatched  broods.  Ex- 
cept in  the  case  of  white  varieties,  the  colors  of  the  down 
are  quite  as  likely  to  differ  from  those  of  the  matured 
fowls  as  they  are  to  correspond  with  them.  For  this 
reason,  many  who  are  hatching  chicks  from  purebred 
flocks  for  the  first  time  are  apt  to  think  they  have  been 
cheated  by  the  breeder  who  sold  them  the  eggs.  Ques- 
tions along  this  line  always  come  in  from  beginners, 
in  the  hatching  season. 

In  the  case  of  white  fowls,  the  chicks  do  usually  follow 
the  parent  in  color,  being  white  or  light  yellow.  But 
the  White  Rocks  and  White  Wyandottes  often  show 
chicks  of  so  dark  a  gray  just  on  the  surface  that  a 
novice  would  be  sure  to  suspect  impurity  of  blood.  Yet 
those  who  have  the  most  of  these  chicks  assert  that  they 
make  the  whitest  birds  when  matured. 

I  presume  the  black  varieties  are  most  prone  to  make 
the  beginner  uncomfortable,  as  white  markings  seem 
so  out  of  place  on  a  black  chick.  Yet  Nature  seems 
to  have  the  opposite  idea :  she  is  extremely  fond  of  fur- 
nishing white  markings  on  the  chicks  of  black  breeds. 


MOTHER   AND    CHICKS  185 

Under  the  body  and  on  the  wings  such  breeds  carry 
this  disquieting  white  plentifully,  on  the  downy  chicks. 
Usually  the  feathers  come  in  black;  partly,  at  first, 
then  wholly,  as  they  mature  and  take  on  their  grown- 
up coat.  But  at  times  some  white  feathers  appear  to 
annoy  and  irritate  the  breeder,  since  they  render  his 
birds  useless  for  show  purposes  by  disqualifying  them 
for  exhibition.  An  old  breeder  will  not,  however,  al- 
ways condemn  a  bird  as  not  fit  for  the  breeding  pen,  be- 
cause of  a  touch  of  white,  because  he  knows  that  a 
feather  bruised  when  green  in  the  "pin"  may  show  a 
white  blotch  from  this  cause.  The  difficulty  of  show- 
ing proof  is  the  burden  here.  Many  consider  a  white 
patch  on  wing  the  result  of  accident,  if  only  one  wing 
shows  it.  But  if  the  fourth  quill,  for  instance,  on  both 
wings  shows  white,  it  is  considered  to  be  a  defect  of  the 
blood. 

Some  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  infant  chicks  are 
those  which  show  harmonies  of  brown  coloring.  Among 
these  are  the  Brown  Leghorns,  the  Partridge  Wyan- 
dottes,  Partridge  Cochins,  such  Games  as  show  similar 
combinations  of  adult  coloring,  and  the  Silver  Gray 
Dorkings.  Most  of  these  bear  much  resemblance  to 
the  partridges,  or  the  tiny  golden  pheasants.  They 
do  not  cause  so  much  disquiet  to  the  novice,  because  a 
mixture  of  similar  colors  characterizes  the  adult  birds. 
The  Partridge  Wyandottes  are  not  quite  so  dark,  on  the 


i86      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

average,  as  the  Brown  Leghorns,  as  I  have  seen  them, 
and  they  are  not  nearly  so  pretty.  Yet  one  can  hardly 
describe  the  difference.  It  consists  mostly  in  a  spot 
near  the  eyes,  which  gives  the  chicks  a  staring  look. 
The  head  is  larger,  too,  and  the  chick  not  so  bright  in 
its  ways  when  very  small.  One  would  scarcely  expect 
the  Silver  Gray  Dorking  to  have  chicks  so  much  like 
the  brown-red  types,  but  when  hatching  some  of  these 
for  a  neighbor  in  the  same  machine  with  my  Brown 
Leghorns,  I  have  sometimes  had  to  depend  on  the 
fifth  toe  of  the  Dorking  to  prove  the  breed.  The  broad, 
dark,  rich  brown  stripe  from  the  head  the  whole  length 
of  the  back  makes  these  chicks  —  I  mean  all  of  this 
color  combination  —  very  attractive.  The  colors  make 
them  very  difficult  to  photograph  well. 

I  have  seen  Barred  Plymouth  Rock  downy  chicks 
described  as  "dark,  sooty  brown  on  the  backs."  But  I 
cannot  convince  myself  that  I  have  ever  seen  many 
Barred  Rock  chicks  that  would  meet  this  description. 
I  would  call  them  more  nearly  black,  or  blue-black, 
with  a  lot  more  white  than  one  would  expect  who  was 
not  familiar  with  them. 

Birds  of  the  Buff  breeds  usually  give  chicks  creamy 
or  yellowish,  as  would  be  expected.  The  Buckeyes, 
which  are  darker  when  mature,  do  not  always  show 
the  chicks  as  dark  as  would  be  expected.  Many  of 
them  come  almost  like  the  chicks  from  white  breeds. 


MOTHER  AND    CHICKS  187 

But,  as  the  darker  female  standard  now  insisted  on  pre- 
vails, I  think  the  chicks  will  average  darker  in  down 
than  they  have  previously  done.  The  under-color  of 
the  adults  is  a  very  beautiful  shade. 

The  Indian  Runner  ducklings  are  funny  looking 
little  blotchy  things  when  hatched,  showing  much 
yellow,  but  spots  here  and  there  of  dull  gray-green.  At 
their  first  feathering  the  sexes  are  much  alike,  and  it 
is  not  till  the  adult  plumage  is  assumed  that  the  males 
can  be  readily  selected. 

What  are  called  "foreign  feathers"  in  adult  fancy 
fowls  are  very  exasperating,  and  usually  they  will  be  laid 
to  faulty  breeding  stock;  but  every  breeder  of  expe- 
rience with  Brown  Leghorns  will  tell  you  that  chicks 
which  have  not  been  properly  fed  with  nutritious  food 
or  which  have  been  below  par  because  of  lice,  crowding, 
or  other  reason  will  develop  many  white  quill  feathers. 
The  novice  raiser  of  such  chicks  would  almost  inva- 
riably charge  the  parent  stock  with  being  culls.  Such 
white  feathers  might  come  from  cull  stock  but  their 
presence  is  not  proof  of  cull  ancestry. 


HANDLING   THE   CHICKS 

General  Care  —  Feeding  —  Late  Hatches  —  Handicaps  —  Shel- 
ters —  Spoiling  the  Chicks  —  Indigestion  a  Menace 

WHAT  a  climate !  In  1903,  the  night  of  the  6th  of 
April,  I  lost  five  hundred  eggs  that  were  in  an  tmheated 
room,  through  chilling;  at  least  they  were  "lost"  so 
far  as  their  capacity  for  producing  chicks  was  concerned. 
In  1905,  on  March  28,  I  put  up  temporary  board 
shelters  for  the  chicks  to  shield  them  from  the  burning 
heat.  Such  hot  weather  in  March  I  never  before  saw, 
and  only  twice,  so  far  as  I  can  remember,  even  in  April. 
Yet  every  year  we  do  have  extreme  changes,  and  we  try 
to  raise  young  chickens  during  the  usual  frost  and  snow 
of  March,  and  during  the  heavy  showers  and  hot  sun  of 
June  and  July,  and  even  August. 

Because  of  this  extreme  variation  in  conditions,  it 
is  well-nigh  impossible  to  give  directions  for  the  care  of 
chicks  that  will  hold  good  throughout  the  season ;  and 
those  who  have  learned  to  raise  them  passably  well 
at  one  season  often  find  great  discouragements  at  an- 
other season,  because  they  do  not  realize  the  great  need 
for  different  treatment.  For  nearly  everything  in  the 
way  of  conditions  which  is  good  for  them  in  cool  weather 
is  detrimental  in  hot  weather  and  the  reverse. 

188 


HANDLING   THE   CHICKS  189 

In  winter  and  early  spring,  under  usual  conditions, 
one  of  the  things  we  have  to  make  sure  of  is  plenty  of 
heat.  We  make  every  effort  to  give  all  the  sunshine 
possible,  and  we  shelter  from  wind  to  the  best  of  our 
ability.  Where  chicks  are  with  hens,  shelter  from  wind 
is  one  of  the  critical  points  for  those  that  come  in  March. 
Some  people  say  that  it  is  foolish,  or  almost  useless,  to 
try  to  raise  chicks  with  the  hens,  in  March.  But  if 
they  are  sheltered  properly  from  the  wind  and  kept  out 
of  the  snow,  few  chicks  do  better  than  the  March  young- 
sters. In  an  angle  of  the  buildings,  protected  on  north 
and  west,  I  can  keep  chicks  in  perfect  comfort,  a  month 
or  six  weeks  earlier  than  they  would  thrive  in  the  open. 
And,  indeed,  there  is  very  little  time  when  they  will 
thrive  in  open,  unsheltered  spots,  because  about  as  soon 
as  they  cease  to  need  shelter  from  cold  and  wind  they 
begin  to  need  shelter  from  the  sun,  even  in  the  average 
season.  I  had  a  good  lesson  on  the  value  of  a  few  boards 
on  edge  the  past  winter.  In  a  cold  frame  of  last  year, 
but  entirely  without  other  shelter  than  the  upright 
boards,  I  wintered  some  pansy  plants.  Less  than 
three  feet  distant  were  other  pansy  plants,  unsheltered, 
except  for  a  little  mulch.  The  plants  in  the  frame 
came  through  almost  without  a  marred  leaf,  while  those 
outside  were  so  blackened  and  rotted  that  I  thought 
most  of  them  dead.  The  roots  were  all  right,  but  the 
tops  of  four  out  of  five  were  destroyed,  the  exceptions 


igo      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

showing  green  stems,  but  not  much  else.  And  protec- 
tion from  sharp  winds  means  fully  as  much  to  the  baby 
chicks  as  it  does  to  the  plant,  if  not  more. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  just  as  impossible  to  raise  a 
good  proportion  of  a  brood  if  the  coop  stands  unshel- 
tered from  intense  heat  as  it  is  when  unsheltered  from 
cold.  This  is  a  point  which  is  difficult  for  many  people 
to  realize.  Summer  chicks  will  do  well  if  they  can  have 
shade  and  water  in  plenty,  in  addition  to  proper  food, 
etc.  Large  coops  are  a  great  help  when  there  is  not 
much  shade  available.  I  find  the  three  by  six  feet  coops 
most  excellent  for  a  hen  with  a  large  brood.  It  looks 
like  extravagance,  I  admit,  to  use  such  a  big  coop  for 
just  a  hen  and  chicks,  but  I  am  not  in  the  least  afraid 
to  assert  that  the  chicks  saved  in  a  single  clutch  will 
often  pay  the  cost  of  new  lumber  to  build  the  coop,  and 
this  at  market  rates.  (General  figures  are  always 
based  on  market  rates  in  my  calculations,  because 
fanciers'  prices  are  exceptional  and  could  not  apply 
generally.) 

If  biting  wind  is  sure  death  to  small  chicks  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  season,  no  less  is  the  absence  of  motion 
in  the  air  sure  death  to  them  in  the  crowded  hot  nights  of 
midsummer.  Those  who  are  not  in  the  habit  of  shutting 
their  chicks  in  at  night  would  learn  much  by  going  about 
at  dusk  and  studying  conditions  among  the  chicks. 
Stagnant  air,  rising  ammonia,  crowding  to  suffocation, 


HANDLING   THE   CHICKS  191 

and  other  evil  things  might  be  discovered  in  such  a  night 
round.  These  are  a  good  part  of  the  cause  of  much 
mysterious  lack  of  thrift  and  of  actual  loss  during  the 
heated  term.  During  April  and  the  first  two  weeks  of 
May,  in  an  average  season  and  climate,  any  one  can 
"raise"  chicks,  because  the  conditions  are  nearly  all 
favorable.  But  it  is  the  rest  of  the  year  that  tests  the 
caretaker. 

Lack  of  meat  is  sure  death  to  a  very  large  proportion 
of  chicks  of  the  breeds  that  feather  while  the  body  is 
still  very  small.  When  insects  are  plentiful,  and  there 
is  milk  for  curds  to  add  to  the  feed,  there  is  "  good 
luck,"  possibly,  but  when  these  are  lacking,  meat 
must  be  supplied.  Yet  a  large  surplus  of  meat  is  as 
likely  to  cause  death  as  is  the  lack  of  animal  food. 

Overfeeding  is  one  of  the  causes  of  much  of  the  mor- 
tality in  tiny  chicks;  yet  some  are  underfed.  And 
it  is  well  to  consider  that  an  animal  may  be  underfed 
while  having  a  large  amount  of  food  provided,  because 
of  the  lack  of  variety  or  of  proper  proportion  of  muscle 
builders.  And  the  fact  that  instances  may  be  adduced 
of  good  chicks  raised  solely  on  corn  does  not  affect  the 
statement.  When  good  chicks  are  raised  "on  corn 
alone,"  it  simply  means  that  only  corn  was  supplied, 
and  that  the  chicks  were  able  to  find  the  other  things 
necessary  to  a  good  ration. 

An  early  English  authority  on  poultry  says  that  one 


I92      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

great  cause  of  loss  during  the  first  two  weeks  is  the 
fact  that  food  is  not  supplied  continuously  enough. 
Digestion  being  rapid  and  capacity  small,  the  chick 
gets  hungry  before  its  feeder  thinks  of  such  a  thing, 
and  then  gobbles  too  much  when  fed.  This  writer 
argues  for  food  being  kept  before  the  smallest  chicks 
all  the  time.  I  think  this  is  the  best  utterance  on  this 
point  that  I  have  seen.  But  I  would  not  make  this  ever- 
ready  food  of  a  kind  that  the  youngsters  are  especially 
fond  of,  but  rather  a  combination  of  two  or  three  that 
they  regard  as  second  best.  This  will  help  to  insure 
that  they  do  not  overeat.  We  feed  as  much  as  the  chicks 
run  after  eagerly.  The  number  of  times  of  feeding 
would  affect  the  quantity.  It  is  a  good  plan  to  keep  a 
dish  of  cracked  oats  where  they  can  get  it  at  will  as  some 
are  slow  eaters  and  need  a  chance  to  help  themselves  till 
satisfied.  I  place  such  a  dish  under  a  rack,  where  the 
smaller  and  weaker  can  satisfy  themselves,  without  in- 
terference from  the  stronger  chicks.  One  very  success- 
ful raiser  keeps  meat  before  them  all  the  time.  This  is 
the  dry  meat  product. 

Charcoal  is  an  absorbent  of  gases,  a  purifier,  etc. 
It  is  an  undoubted  help  in  cases  of  impaired  digestion, 
and  regularly  in  case  of  yarded  fowls.  But  if  chicks 
have  plenty  of  range,  I  do  not  think  it  a  necessity, 
though  experienced  poultry  raisers  and  fanciers  on  town 
lots  generally  use  it  regularly.  At  two  months,  or  less, 


HANDLING  THE   CHICKS  193 

the  chicks  begin  to  scorn  the  granulated  foods  as  too 
small  for  any  use. 

In  feeding  chicks,  especially  if  of  a  mixed  lot  as  to 
size,  and  many  running  together,  I  am  coming  to  the 
practice  of  making  the  mash  pretty  dry  —  that  is,  of 
using  moisture  enough  to  swell  the  ground  stuff,  but 
not  enough  so  that  it  shall  ball  together  much. 

There  are  several  ways  of  securing  any  desired  con- 
sistency. Thick,  sour  milk  will  make  the  mash  sticky 
under  most  circumstances,  as  most  farmers  know. 
Cooking  the  grain,  or  a  part  of  it,  has  the  same  effect, 
as  does  also  the  addition  of  raw  egg.  And  by  the 
addition  of  any  chosen  quantity  of  fine  middlings  or 
"red  dog"  flour,  the  mash  may  be  made  of  any  desired 
stickiness.  For  years  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
making  all  mashes  sticky  enough  to  ball  together  just 
enough  to  furnish  fair  mouthfuls  to  the  birds  to  be  fed 
with  them.  But  in  the  cases  noted  above  of  many  chicks, 
both  small  and  large,  running  together,  I  think  it  is 
better  to  err  on  the  crumbly  side,  if  on  either.  Other- 
wise, the  smaller  chicks  are  trampled  unmercifully,  and 
also  robbed.  Very  crumbly  mash  can  be  widely  dis- 
tributed quickly,  and  this  is  a  necessity  under  the  con- 
ditions mentioned.  Several  long  troughs  or  boards 
should  be  covered  as  quickly  as  possible.  Then,  with 
feeding  crates  for  the  small  fry  to  visit  at  will,  they 
can  be  kept  fairly  thriving,  even  among  an  army  of 


194 


HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 


comparative  giants,  though  it  is  decidedly  better  that 
large  and  small  have  separate  runs  and  feeding  places. 

A  good  portion  of  the  loss  among  very  young  chicks 
is  due  to  musty  feed.  Probably  this  is  more  true  with 
those  who  buy  feed  of  dealers  than  it  is  on  the  farm. 
Not  only  does  musty  grain  or  mash  material  do  more 
harm  in  warm  than  in  cold  weather,  but  it  is  far  more 
likely  to  be  common.  Bran  becomes  musty  in  a  very 
few  days,  when  it  is  warm  and  in  damp  storage.  Place 
beside  these  facts  the  additional  one  that  hundreds  of 
people  can  raise  chicks  early,  who  fail  later  in  the 
season  with  the  same  method,  and  we  have  good  reason 
for  at  least  suspicion  regarding  the  available  food- 
stuffs. 

If  the  chicks  are  developing  well,  there  is  no  need 
to  bother  with  any  of  the  prepared  mixtures.  It  is 
quite  largely  a  question  of  quality  of  range.  The 
grass  may  be  tough  and  wiry  and  insects  few.  In  that 
case  meat  is  a  necessity  —  at  least  with  some  breeds. 
With  those  which  do  not  feather  till  nearly  two  months 
old,  the  necessity  would  be  much  less  for  supplying 
meat  early  in  case  the  range  furnished  little. 

I  do  not  advise  any  farmer  to  supply  meat  unless  he 
has  to  do  so.  And  in  case  it  seems  a  necessity  and 
eggs  are  cheap,  I  would  use  raw  eggs  instead  of  meat, 
while  the  chicks  are  small.  After  two  or  three  weeks 
they  eat  so  much  this  would  be  extravagant,  but  I  do 


HANDLING   THE   CHICKS  195 

not  reckon  anything  extravagant  for  chicks  under  two 
weeks  old,  if  I  cannot  get  cheaper  stuff  on  which  they 
will  do  equally  well.  I  consider  the  chief  handicap  to 
raising  young  chicks  on  the  grains  to  be  found  on  the 
average  farm  lies  in  the  fact  that  these  cannot  easily 
be  had  in  granulated  form,  and  they  are  too  coarse  for 
the  youngest  chicks.  Beyond  this,  it  seems  to  me  that 
farm  chicks  have  every  advantage  over  town  raised 
chicks. 

If  without  ice,  it  is  scarcely  practicable  to  use  fresh 
meat  with  any  regularity  or  freedom,  but  dry,  ground 
meats  are  always  to  be  had,  and  the  difficulty  lies  in 
getting  such  as  are  sweet  and  wholesome. 

Constant  use  of  the  granulated  foods  is  urged  by 
the  makers,  and  the  foods  are  supposed  to  be  prepared 
to  suit  such  use,  but  it  is  pretty  well  known  that  chicks 
gain  flesh  faster  on  soft  feed  than  on  hard  grain,  and 
bran  is  cheap  and  a  good  regulator  of  the  bowels. 
For  these  reasons  I  use  the  ground  stuff  as  much  as 
I  think  safe,  supplying  the  extra  meat  on  account  of 
using  only  two  feeds  of  the  granulated  product  con- 
taining meat. 

As  to  grit,  I  am  much  opposed  to  paying  two  or 
three  dollars  a  hundred  for  it  in  a  prepared  food,  when 
it  can  be  bought  for  one  dollar.  Hence,  I  always  aim 
to  supply  it  separately  from  the  feed.  Where  gravel  is 
plentiful  chicks  will  get  along  without  grit  while  small, 


ig6      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

but  it  is  a  safe  thing  to  supply,  and  if  they  eat  it  you 
have  the  proof  that  it  is  needed.  If  not,  you  know 
they  are  all  right,  and  need  not  furnish  more. 

There  is  a  wide  difference  in  practice  and  opinion 
among  those  who  keep  fowls  as  to  the  proper  period 
for  hatching  the  chicks  for  best  results.  Of  course, 
breed  makes  much  difference,  as  the  very  large  breeds 
take  a  long  period  to  reach  maturity ;  but,  leaving  out 
of  the  question  the  Asiatics,  of  which  comparatively 
few  are  raised  in  this  country,  we  still  find  people  who 
think  April  is  already  late,  and  others  who  make  a 
practice  of  waiting  till  the  latter  part  of  May,  or  even 
June  and  July,  to  get  out  the  greater  number  of  their 
chicks.  The  large  and  rapidly  increasing  number  of 
fanciers  who  exhibit  has  been  chiefly  responsible,  prob- 
ably, for  the  increasing  desire  on  the  part  of  the  many 
to  get  chicks  as  early  as  possible.  The  incubator  has 
made  it  possible  to  raise  early  chicks  in  larger  num- 
bers than  could  have  been  done  before  the  advent  of 
the  machines,  and  the  universal  desire  for  winter  eggs 
has  been  another  strong  factor. 

One  of  our  experiment  stations  has  placed  both 
those  who  contend  for  very  early  chicks,  and  those 
who  insist  that  June  stock  is  most  satisfactory,  in  the 
wrong.  The  assertion  is  officially  made  that  only  in 
the  natural  season,  about  the  latter  part  of  April  and 
earlier  May  on  the  average,  is  there  probability  of  best 


HANDLING   THE   CHICKS  197 

results.  I  have  watched  these  things  very  closely  for  a 
good  many  years.  I  once  believed  that  only  the  early 
chicks  were  certain  to  do  well  and  be  profitable;  but 
further  experience  has  convinced  me  that  the  matter  is 
almost  wholly  one  of  handling,  and  is  in  the  breeder's 
own  hands. 

In  case  the  late  chicks  can  be  made  to  thrive  as  well 
as  earlier  ones,  there  is  a  great  deal  to  be  said  in  favor 
of  hatching  right  on  through  the  season,  or  at  least 
until  one  has  a  satisfactory  number  out.  Indeed, 
from  one  point  of  view,  it  is  decidedly  better  for  the 
majority  of  farmers  not  to  hatch  till  June,  or  even 
until  August.  The  handler  of  fowls  who  cannot  get 
winter  eggs  is  not  justified  in  hatching  early  chicks 
for  layers,  for  they  will  cost  him  twice  as  much  as  late 
hatched  ones  before  they  begin  to  bring  in  anything. 

And,  admitting  that  late  chicks  can  be  made  to 
thrive  satisfactorily,  there  are  only  two  reasons  that  I 
can  see  for  feeding  chickens  from  March  until  Febru- 
ary —  as  so  many  do  —  before  getting  any  returns, 
when  those  hatched  in  July  and  August  will  begin  to 
lay  at  about  the  same  period.  One  is  that  they  have 
to  put  on  their  mature  coat  during  cold  weather  and 
are  therefore  more  subject  to  colds  if  not  properly 
shielded  from  wjnd ;  the  other  is  that  when  laying  has 
been  very  heavy  and  the  season  very  hot,  the  parent 
stock  will  not  give  as  good  eggs  in  midsummer  as  it 


198      HOW  TO   KEEP   HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

will  very  early  in  the  season.  It  is  a  question  which 
each  must  decide,  whether  or  not  these  objections  are 
so  great  as  to  overbalance  the  real  advantage  of  quicker 
growth,  less  cost  to  raise,  etc.  The  matters  of  lice, 
too  much  heat,  trampling,  lack  of  water,  etc.,  can  all 
be  overcome  by  careful  handling,  and  there  are  no 
chicks  that  thrive  like  the  midsummer  chicks  if  circum- 
stances are  made  to  favor  them. 

The  greatest  handicap  summer  chicks  have  to  meet 
is  trampling  by  older  ones.  Another  serious  one  is 
that  water  is  not  kept  before  them  all  the  time.  One 
little  suspected  evil  is  too  strong  sunshine  on  chicks 
just  from  the  nest.  Since  I  learned  to  keep  the  sum- 
mer chicks  confined  to  their  coops  for  the  first  two 
days,  with  careful  semi-shade  after  that,  I  do  not 
have  those  inexplicable  losses  that  used  to  be  so  com- 
mon. Of  course  lice  can  deprive  us  of  all  the  summer 
chicks  if  we  let  them,  but  we  don't  need  to  let  them. 
The  need  for  water  all  the  time,  and  shade  at  will, 
cannot  be  too  forcibly  impressed  on  the  boys  and  girls 
who  are  interested  in  the  chickens. 

I  have  seen  a  brood  thrive  perfectly  for  a  month 
and  go  all  to  pieces  through  overfeeding  for  one  or 
two  meals,  combined  with  lack  of  water  at  the  same 
time.  And  no  after  pains  could  overcome  the  blunder. 
Overfeeding  may  not  be  fatal,  if  water  is  always  at 
hand;  otherwise,  a  dry  water  dish  may  mean  a  dead 


HANDLING  THE   CHICKS  199 

chick,  perhaps  a  dead  brood.  There  must  be  watch- 
fulness sufficient  to  replace  in  time  the  shallow  vessels 
which  are  necessary  with  baby  chicks  (unless  fountains 
can  be  had)  by  others  both  deep  enough  and  large 
enough  to  insure  that  the  chicks  shall  not  suffer  through 
lack  of  water,  if  neglected  for  some  hours.  No  busy 
farm  dweller  can  be  sure  to  be  on  hand  at  the  minute 
every  time.  There  will  be  many  calls,  many  neglects 
that  can  hardly  be  avoided.  That  "contingent  fund" 
which  every  organization  cherishes  so  carefully  is  no- 
where more  needed  than  in  the  poultry  yard.  True,  it 
consists,  in  this  case,  of  extra  feed  and  water,  but  it 
means  money  in  the  end.  And  it  means  comfort  to 
many  small  orphans,  machine-made,  perhaps,  but 
persistent  in  their  demands,  and  very  much  alive  to 
the  situation.  But,  alas!  not  long  "alive"  to  any- 
thing, if  left  to  the  mercy  of  circumstances,  or  the  neg- 
lect of  their  foster  parents. 

On  our  place  we  have  much  pleasure  each  year  in 
bringing  up  several  families  of  what,  for  want  of  a 
better  name,  are  known  as  "box  babies,"  often  con- 
tracted to  "boxers."  No  patent-brooder  chicks  thrive 
like  these,  none  show  so  few  losses,  none  are  so  tame 
ever  after.  So  that,  except  for  the  greater  care  which 
they  require,  no  brooders  need  be  had  for  chicks 
which  come  after  the  weather  is  reasonably  warm  — 
warm  enough  to  supply  all  the  heat  needed  during  the 


200      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

day.  A  good  sized  soap  box  is  the  only  brooder  needed 
for  twenty  chicks,  with  a  screen  for  the  top.  A  warm 
but  loosely  woven  piece  of  flannel  is  the  only  hover 
needed,  and  at  five  or  six  weeks  of  age  the  inmates  of 
this  primitive  "brooder"  will  insist  on  no  longer  receiv- 
ing the  treatment  of  babies.  They  then  go  to  coops  at 
night,  like  others. 

The  very  large  number  of  people  who  are  "too 
busy"  to  care  for  chicks  after  they  are  hatched  should 
never  attempt  hatching  summer  chicks.  Neither  are 
they  for  those  who  have  their  quarters  already  full  of 
older  stock.  But  those  who  have  a  place  for  them  by 
themselves  and  time  to  care  for  them  decently  need  not 
be  afraid  to  hatch  all  they  want.  I  find  one  little  bit 
of  head  work  helps  very  largely  to  overcome  trampling 
by  larger  chicks.  When  we  must  raise  both  in  the 
same  enclosure  we  place  runs  made  of  twelve-inch 
boards  around  the  smaller  ones  till  they  can  fly  over 
them.  Then,  by  simply  locating  the  youngest  chicks 
furthest  from  the  gate  where  the  feeder  enters,  they 
get  along  reasonably  well.  The  young  chicks  are  not 
with  the  main  lot  at  all  till  nearly  two  weeks  old.  The 
great  rush  is  near  the  gate  at  feeding  time,  and  is  over 
before  the  younger  ones  arrive  on  the  scene.  When 
they  get  nearly  to  the  big  bunch  the  feeder  is  already  on 
the  way  across  to  the  location  of  the  younger  ones,  and 
they  follow,  so  that  they  feed  separately  to  a  large  extent 


HANDLING   THE   CHICKS  201 

There  are  ill  turns  of  the  weather;  diseases,  like 
gapes;  lacks  unsuspected  in  range  or  feed  provided, 
which  may  ruin  many  flocks  of  chicks,  and  we  need 
not  quarrel  too  much  with  the  raisers  who  attribute 
their  failure  to  untoward  circumstances.  But  there  are 
hundreds  of  runts  and  deformed  or  unthrifty  speci- 
mens, and  even  whole  broods  ailing,  where  these  re- 
sults are  almost  wholly  due  to  lack  of  care.  It  may 
even  be  that  these  chickens  are  well  fed,  and  fairly 
well  sheltered,  as  these  things  go  where  other  work  is 
put  first. 

A  "  fairly  good  shelter,"  in  so  far  as  protective  value 
goes,  is  never  a  good  shelter,  if  too  small.  Last  sum- 
mer I  visited  a  place  where  poultry  is  made  quite  a 
specialty,  and  saw  boxes  in  use  for  coops,  beside  which 
the  average  soap  box  would  be  a  palace  for  size.  The 
only  time  when  a  small  box  may  safely  serve  as  shelter 
for  a  hen  with  her  brood  is  when  there  is  a  run  attached 
for  the  hen.  Otherwise  she  simply  cannot  get  about 
without  trampling  the  chicks,  because  they  have  no 
place  of  refuge;  they  must  stay  almost  literally  under 
her  feet.  Another  point  is  that  rain  must  beat  into  a 
small  coop  much  worse  than  into  one  having  fair  depth. 
We  aim  to  have  coops  of  good  size,  then  board  up  one 
end  at  the  front  as  a  rain  shelter. 

When  midsummer  heat  draws  on,  many  chicks  are 
ruined  for  all  their  future  by  housing  in  coops  that  are 


202       HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

too  close  and  stuffy.  Last  week  I  saw  a  very  nice 
arrangement  on  a  large  farm  where  hundreds  of  chicks 
are  raised  every  year.  It  seems  expensive,  but  if 
poultry  brings  any  fair  price,  it  will  pay  well.  The 
summer  coops  were  rather  small,  and  slatted  on  three 
sides  for  free  admission  of  air.  A  pair  of  these  coops 
was  placed  under  an  open  shed,  which,  later,  will  be 
the  weaning  coop  for  the  two  broods.  While  the  chicks 
are  very  tiny  this  arrangement  of  two  hens  so  near  is 
not  always  safe,  as  they  may  kill  each  other's  chicks; 
but  after  three  weeks  there  is  not  so  much  danger  of 
this.  The  plan  might  be  worked  by  using  runs  at  the 
first  to  keep  the  broods  apart;  but  it  is  better  for  the 
chicks  to  range  after  the  first  week.  They  need  not  be 
doubled  up  till  old  enough  to  be  reasonably  safe. 

The  poultry  raiser  who  has  not  provided  himself  with 
several  of  these  sheds  or  weaning  coops  three  by  six  feet 
or  somewhere  near  that  capacity  has  missed  one  of 
the  greatest  helps  and  conveniences.  If  for  summer 
use  only,  convenience  is  best  served  by  building  them 
in  sections,  to  be  hooked  together.  In  winter  this  has 
some  disadvantage  on  account  of  cracks  at  the  corners. 
But  we  manage  to  find  handy  uses  for  all  of  ours, 
winter  and  summer  both. 

Beware  of  corners !  The  incubator  people  have  so 
nearly  learned  this  that  most  hovers  now  take  the 
circular  form;  but  those  who  brood  chicks  with  hens 


HANDLING   THE   CHICKS  203 

have  mainly  neglected  this  important  point.  The  hen 
is  nearly  sure  to  stow  herself  and  brood  into  the  back 
corner  of  the  coop.  This  works  all  right  as  long  as 
she  is  with  them;  and  if  the  coop  is  in  "A"  shape 
it  is  even  better,  since  the  chicks  can  slip  back  where 
the  hen  cannot  step  on  them.  Close  watch  will  often 
show  them  doing  just  this  little  trick.  It  is  when  the 
hen  leaves  them  that  trouble  swoops  upon  them.  Just 
here  is  the  very  worst  feature  of  chick  handling  on  the 
farm,  where  people  are  usually  too  busy  to  see  to  little 
things  or  to  think  out  little  puzzles.  The  trouble  is 
that  in  this  climate  we  have  many  cool  or  cold  nights 
following  hot  days.  As  soon  as  the  sun  goes  down  the 
featherless  or  partly  feathered  youngsters  begin  to  whine 
with  the  cold.  They  seek  the  coops,  often  quite  early, 
and  spend  a  half  hour,  perhaps  an  hour  in  trampling 
one  another,  in  the  effort  which  each  makes  to  be  in 
the  warmest  place.  If  any  one  will  take  time  to  see 
the  performance  when  the  night  has  come  on  cold  or 
damp,  and  see  it  through  till  the  crowding  is  over,  he 
will  never  again  wonder  that  broods  can  hardly  hold 
their  own  many  times,  or  that  weaklings  die  or  dwindle. 
Only  those  that  can  crowd  hardest  have  any  chance 
to  do  their  best,  or  ever  will. 

There  are  two  ways  to  overcome  this  fairly  well 
without  providing  heat.  One  is  to  board  off  the 
corners  of  the  coop.  Even  heavy  pasteboard  will  do, 


204      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

if  it  is  to  be  temporary.  A  better  way  is  to  furnish 
board  roosts  as  soon  as  the  chicks  will  take  them.  They 
can  keep  nearly  as  warm  by  sitting  close  on  a  three 
inch  or  four  inch  board,  laid  flat,  but  a  little  up  from 
the  floor,  and  they  cannot  possibly  crowd  so  badly. 
The  general  idea  is  that  they  will  get  crooked  breast- 
bones, which  spoils  them  for  the  fancier,  but  I  fail  to 
see  how  a  narrow  flat  board  can  be  any  worse  than  a 
wide  flat  board,  so  long  as  it  is  wide  enough  to  support 
the  whole  breastbone,  or  nearly  so. 

Bunching  chicks  of  odd  sizes  is  pretty  surely  fatal 
to  the  smaller  ones  as  far  as  normal  development  goes. 
If  it  takes  all  their  strength  and  spunk  to  fight  for 
place,  how  can  they  thrive?  Last  week  a  man  told 
me,  with  every  sign  of  satisfaction,  that  he  had  placed 
a  second  brood  of  chicks  from  the  incubator  in  the  same 
brooder  with  the  previous  lot,  and  that  they  were  doing 
finely.  Moreover,  he  was  going  to  make  them  a  run 
ten  feet  square;  that  was  plenty  big  enough.  Oh! 
the  folly  of  it !  After  a  little,  he  will  wonder  what  he  is 
feeding  wrong,  or  why  incubator  chicks  can't  be  de- 
pended on  to  thrive ! 

The  town  poultryman  is,  of  course,  the  greatest 
sinner  in  the  line  of  stinting  quarters  and  green  diet. 
His  conditions  make  him  so.  But  at  times,  in  order 
to  protect  the  crops,  even  farm  chicks  are  confined  too 
closely.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  with  average  handling  it 


HANDLING   THE   CHICKS  205 

is  always  unwise  to  confine  growing  chicks,  except  in 
enclosures  large  enough  to  furnish  what  is  virtually 
free  range;  at  least,  an  abundance  of  forage. 

It  is  so  easy  to  avoid  these  methods  of  spoiling 
chicks  that  one  can  hardly  endure  to  see  the  havoc 
caused  by  just  this  little  lack  of  care.  When  it  comes 
to  the  matter  of  lice,  the  most  potent  cause  of  spoiled 
chicks,  the  fight  is  long  and  hard ;  longer  and  harder, 
as  it  becomes  one  of  cure  rather  than  of  prevention. 
Prevention  is  easy;  the  only  hard  thing  about  it  is  to 
find  time  for  it.  "Cure"  is  wearing,  wearying,  dis- 
couraging, the  season  through.  Three  doses  of  insect 
powder,  a  week  apart,  on  the  sitters,  go  very  far  toward 
saving  half  the  work  of  protecting  the  chicks.  Lack 
of  time  goes  far  toward  spoiling  them  in  most  cases. 

"The  pink  of  condition"  has  long  been  a  favorite 
phrase  with  fanciers,  to  express  the  highest  degree  of 
apparent  health,  thrift,  and  "grooming."  Except  for 
the  grooming  (which  often  includes  washing,  blueing, 
fluffing,  coloring  legs,  stimulating  comb,  manipulating 
crests  and  combs,  etc.)  it  is  within  the  reach  of  all  of 
us  on  the  farms  to  get  and  to  keep  our  birds  in  this 
pink  of  condition.  Or  perhaps  "the  best  condition" 
will  be  a  sufficient  phrase  for  us,  leaving  "the  pink" 
to  represent  the  grooming. 

We  are  all  familiar  enough  with  the  thought  of  the 
comb  as  an  indicator  of  condition.  When  not  too 


206      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

much  animal  food  is  given,  the  comb,  being  prominent 
and  well  colored,  shows  very  quickly  something  of  the 
state  of  health.  Exuberant  health  is  what  we  really  need 
for  birds  that  are  to  fill  the  leanness  of  our  purses  just 
after  the  holidays,  and  to  obtain  a  flock  of  high,  average 
standing  along  this  line  there  is  nothing  else  quite  so 
effective  as  rigid  selection,  after  we  have  done  our  full 
duty  as  to  regular  feed  and  care. 

But  the  effect  of  meat  upon  the  combs  is  quite  de- 
ceiving at  times.  Sometimes  heavy  meat  feeding  will 
so  stimulate  the  egg  organs  and  the  indicator  of  activity 
there,  the  comb,  that  the  fowls  appear  to  be  in  robust 
health  when  they  are  really  being  forced  along  this 
one  line  until  affections  of  other  organs  are  setting  in, 
unnoticed. 

Almost  the  whole  exterior  of  the  bird  is  an  indicator 
of  condition  to  those  of  experience  and  of  careful  obser- 
vation. I  have  heard  a  man  say:  "That  chick  isn't 
right.  I  can't  tell  just  how  I  know,  but  it  doesn't  look 
right,  somehow."  And  again:  "See  what  queer  shape 
that  chicken  is;  it  is  not  going  to  live."  This  man 
was  perfectly  right  in  his  conclusions,  even  though  he 
could  not  tell  why  he  formed  them.  The  shape  of  the 
body  in  small  chicks  is  often  the  first  indication  to  a 
trained  eye  that  there  is  coming  trouble  of  the  digestive 
organs.  The  posterior  part  of  the  body,  say  from  the 
wings  back,  fails  to  develop,  and  the  chick  appears  too 


HANDLING   THE   CHICKS  207 

broad  for  its  length,  this  being  many  times  accom- 
panied by  a  little  humping  of  the  back.  I  don't  think 
I  ever  knew  such  a  chick  to  reach  maturity.  Usually 
these  chicks  die  between  ten  days  and  a  month  old. 

Something  can  be  learned  of  the  tendencies  of  the 
young  before  they  grow  sick  enough  to  droop  seriously. 
Broods  that  sit  quietly  in  gossiping  groups  after  eating, 
or  stretch  and  sun  themselves,  are  doing  well.  Those 
that  do  not  sit  down,  but  stand  about  aimlessly,  are 
enduring  some  condition  that  means  loss  later  on.  It 
is  the  foresight  or  the  quick  judgment  which  sees  these 
things  early  that  enables  one  to  be  successful  with  the 
young  stock. 

The  voice,  too,  at  this  time  is  a  sure  indicator,  to  the 
experienced  ear,  of  the  prospects  for  life.  If  it  is  a 
wretched  whine,  the  chick  is  worth  very  little;  but  if 
it  is  strong  and  full,  no  matter  if  the  chicks  complain 
a  great  deal,  it  is  more  in  the  form  of  protest  against 
what  seems  to  them  unfair  treatment.  An  indignant, 
persistent  cry  usually  means  that  the  attendant  is  at 
fault  in  not  providing  feed  or  water  liberally  enough. 
And  the  chicks  will  cry  for  water  quite  as  insistently  as 
for  feed. 

How  do  you  tell,  the  very  day  a  chick  is  hatched, 
what  its  chances  for  life  are?  Many  can  do  it;  per- 
haps more  cannot  be  so  sure,  and  many  would  think 
this  impossible.  Not  so.  Partly  by  the  looks  of  the 


208      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

fluff,  partly  by  the  fulness  of  the  head  about  the  eyes, 
partly  by  the  shining  of  the  eyes  themselves,  partly  by 
the  condition  of  the  feet  and  legs,  one  who  has  handled 
little  chickens  much  and  has  kept  his  eyes  open  will  be 
able  to  tell  from  the  first  the  chances  of  any  particular 
brood,  given  intelligent  care.  Good  care  will  always 
bring  good  chicks  right  along;  but  the  best  of  care  is 
helpless  to  do  anything  worth  while  for  chicks  that 
are  sunken  about  the  eyes  and  shrunken  of  feet  and 
legs  when  first  hatched.  Skinny,  shrivelled  legs  seem 
usually  to  point  to  something  wrong  with  incubation. 
In  such  cases,  the  bill  is  quite  likely  to  be  shrunken, 
pale,  or  pinched,  apparently,  into  greater  than  normal 
length.  Roughened  feathers  and  feathers  coming  in 
backward  mean  that  something  is  not  favorable  to 
development. 

What  does  it  mean  to  you  when  you  see  a  fowl  stand 
with  tail  drooped  sharply  below  the  regular  slant  from 
the  head  when  the  body  is  well  raised  ?  What  does  a 
humped  posture  tell  you?  Do  you  recognize  that 
there  is  severe  irritation  of  the  digestive  organs  to 
account  for  when  you  see  a  bird  sitting  or  standing 
with  its  bill  touching  the  ground?  The  sharp  droop 
of  the  tail  means,  usually,  some  trouble  with  the  repro- 
ductive organism.  Roughness  of  feathers  may  mean 
lice,  or  it  may  mean  unthrift  from  any  cause  what- 
ever. The  humped  position  may  mean  only  that  the 


HANDLING   THE   CHICKS  209 

fowl  has  a  sour  crop,  and  this  may  be  overcome  by 
holding  it  head  down  till  the  sour  contents  run  out  of 
the  mouth,  perhaps  with  a  little  manipulation.  Then 
careful  feeding  for  a  day  may  bring  it  out  all  right. 
But  the  hump  may  mean  much  more  serious  things, 
and  it  belongs  to  almost  every  ill  that  attacks  the  birds. 
Since  good  digestion  is  absolutely  necessary  to  a 
fowl  that  is  to  be  profitable,  it  behooves  all  poultry 
keepers  who  are  still  in  the  early  stages  of  experience 
to  learn  to  tell  the  condition  of  the  birds,  future  as  well 
as  present,  by  the  crop  and  the  droppings.  Normal 
droppings,  unmodified  by  feeds  that  affect  them  spe- 
cifically, are  firm  enough  to  keep  shape,  are  brownish 
green,  or  thereabouts,  in  color,  and  capped  by  the 
white  discharge  from  the  kidneys.  A  normal  crop  is 
never  full,  and  at  the  same  time  very  soft,  except  when 
the  bird  has  filled  it  with  water.  Such  a  soft,  watery, 
or  windy  crop,  if  it  become  at  all  common  with  a  bird, 
is  an  indication  that  you  would  better  send  her  to  the 
butcher  about  as  soon  as  you  can  get  her  ready,  if, 
indeed,  this  is  still  possible;  for  it  means  an  abnormal 
digestive  situation  of  some  kind.  It  may  be  only  a 
simple  indigestion  now,  but  a  hen  with  chronic  indiges- 
tion cannot  long  be  a  paying  piece  of  property,  for  she 
is  pretty  sure  to  grow  worse  instead  of  better.  The 
only  exception  to  this  rule  which  I  know  is  in  case  of 
some  birds  which  suffer  unduly  in  reasonable  confine- 


2io      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

ment.  Such  birds,  if  placed  on  good  grass  range,  may 
remain  in  good  health  a  long  time,  when  they  might 
soon  become  worthless  in  confinement.  Overfeeding 
soon  means  crops  stretched  and  lax,  and  ruined  birds. 
Too  much  bran  or  meat  may  make  the  digestive  organs 
lax.  Too  much  egg,  if  cooked,  may  cause  constipation; 
if  raw,  it  may  still  make  the  ration  too  rich,  although, 
if  fed  but  once  a  day,  the  danger  is  not  so  great.  Bran 
alone  (which  has  been  fed  in  extreme  cases)  is  not  of 
good  consistency,  and  has  not  sufficient  variety  of 
nutrition.  Part  middlings  seems  much  better,  both  for 
hens  and  chicks,  than  all  bran,  and  corn  meal  should 
be  added. 


MODERN  WAYS   OF  HOUSING 

Two  Unusual  Houses  —  A  Square  House  Cheapest  —  A  Hillside 
House  —  Cement-rubble  Walls  —  Cloth-front  Ventilation 
—  Which  Hen  pays  her  Dues  Best  ? 

THERE  are  so  many  cheap  books  of  plans  for  poultry- 
houses  on  sale  at  supply-houses  and  by  the  publishers, 
that  I  shall  not  trench  on  this  field.  But  I  wish  to  note 
some  unusual  plans,  and  to  call  attention  to  the  princi- 
ple of  housing  layers,  and  some  modern  methods  of 
compassing  it. 

There  may  be  two  reasons  for  any  particular  form  of 
house  being  unusual :  one,  that  its  disadvantages  are  too 
well  known  through  its  having  been  tried  by  so  many 
different  people;  the  other,  that  neither  its  disadvan- 
tages nor  its  advantages  are  well  known,  because  the 
house  itself  is  not  at  all  well  known  or  well  tried.  There 
are  two  of  the  latter  class  that  perhaps  merit  the  con- 
sideration of  farm  poultry  keepers  who  have  sufficient 
interest  to  build  outright  such  houses  as  they  may  need. 

The  advantage  on  the  average  farm  of  the  A  chicken 
coop  are  so  appealing  that  this  coop  is  seen  on  practically 
every  farm.  Is  there  a  possibility  of  extending  these 
advantages  to  a  house  for  a  small  flock  of  hens?  The 


212       HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

fact  that  one  of  the  largest  supply  companies  in  this 
country  is  building  such  a  house  to  sell,  ready  made,  to 
its  legion  of  customers,  seems  to  indicate  the  makers' 
very  strong  belief  that  the  A  house  will  sell  and  satisfy 
equally  well  with  the  small  A  coop.  To  be  sure,  they 
have  put  a  patent  cap  on  the  top,  but  air  above  can  be 
secured  in  other  and  more  simple  ways. 

The  value  of  any  house  to  any  person  becomes 
chiefly  a  matter  of  balancing  its  disadvantages  and  its 
advantages.  If  the  latter  are  sufficiently  great,  consid- 
ering the  conditions  under  which  it  is  to  be  used,  the 
question  is  settled. 

When  one  desires  several  small,  disconnected  houses, 
cheap,  sharp-pitched,  and  easy  to  build,  he  may  have 
them  in  a  series  of  A  houses,  looking  like  enlarged  coops, 
and  capable  of  housing  about  twenty  hens  each,  giving 
something  over  three  square  feet  per  fowl.  If  a  square 
plank  box,  topless  and  bottomed  with  plank,  be  set  on 
two  plank  runners  and  bolted  fast,  a  firm  foundation  is 
assured.  On  this  the  A  part  may  be  spiked,  overhang- 
ing a  few  inches.  It  may  be  shingled,  covered  with 
roofing  paper  or  simply  battened,  and  the  front  may  be 
just  as  close  as  the  owner  desires.  In  those  parts  of  the 
country  where  the  colony  house  is  the  most  popular, 
experience  seems  to  have  pointed  toward  shingling 
as  most  satisfactory.  A  man's  first  set  of  houses  may 
be  of  various  sorts,  but  his  later  ones  are  quite  likely 


MODERN   WAYS   OF  HOUSING  213 

to  be  shingled.  The  varying  price  of  lumber  in  differ- 
ent localities  might  have  quite  a  bearing  on  this  question. 
We  have  been  using  an  asphalted  felt,  at  about  one  and 
one-half  cents  a  square  foot,  that  is  very  satisfactory, 
and  much  cheaper  than  shingles.  But  one  thing  is  true, 
I  think,  of  all  cheap  roofings  —  their  durability  depends 
very  largely  on  the  care  with  which  they  are  put  on  and 
the  coatings  on  those  that  have  to  be  coated.  One  year, 
in  some  cases,  and  at  most  two  years,  will  be  the  "ex- 
pectation of  life"  for  a  paper  carelessly  applied  or 
left  without  proper  coating. 

Such  a  house  as  this  is  manifestly  little  more  than  a 
roosting  room.  A  sheltered  daytime  run  beneath  may 
be  provided  by  putting  on  a  stout  board  at  the  back  of 
the  runners,  in  case  the  house  faces  away  from  the  pre- 
vailing winds.  Both  this  lower  shelter  and  the  house 
above  have  disadvantages,  but  many  people  would  get 
along  with  them  cheerfully  in  consideration  of  the  many 
advantages. 

The  idea  of  the  other  house  I  have  in  mind  is  not  at 
all  new,  yet  it  is  seldom  used.  It  has  a  good  many  ad- 
vantages not  to  be  secured,  as  well,  in  any  of  the  popular 
models,  and  is  cheaper  and  warmer.  The  alley  in  the 
poultry-house  has  been  a  great  bone  of  contention, 
experience  and  foresight  uniting  in  declaring  its  ad- 
vantages, while  the  thrifty  mind  cries  out  against  the 
almost  waste  of  so  much  roof  and  floor-space.  An  or- 


2i4      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

dinary  alley  is  too  narrow  to  be  used  for  storage  at  all, 
and  the  expedient  of  letting  the  hens  run  under  the  alley 
or  making  the  nests  there  does  not  seem  to  prove  satis- 
factory. 

Most  people  know  that  a  square  is  the  cheapest  form 
to  enclose.  Hence,  the  nearer  we  can  get  our  buildings 
to  the  form  of  a  square,  the  less,  proportionately,  will 
be  their  cost.  If  the  poultry-house  is  to  be  detached 
from  the  other  outbuildings,  convenience  calls  for  storage 
room  on  the  spot,  and  the  house  in  which  there  is  no  long 
return  journey  after  feeding  will  be  the  one  that  appeals 
most  strongly  to  a  feeder  of  considerable  experience. 

A  square,  if  large,  would  give  too  much  space  with 
northern  exposure  in  a  house  wanted  for  laying  hens. 
An  oblong,  say  fourteen  to  sixteen  by  thirty  feet,  is  nearer 
the  square  than  the  usual  long,  narrow  shed,  yet  gives 
good  room  for  a  storage  and  working  place,  without  the 
large  waste  of  the  common  form  of  the  three-foot  alley. 
A  small  room,  it  may  be  five  feet  by  ten  feet,  cut  out  of 
the  middle  of  one  side,  will  provide  an  alley  from  which 
to  feed,  a  storage  room  of  some  use,  and  a  short  route  for 
the  feeder,  while  leaving  opportunity  for  all  the  sunshine 
desired,  and  pens  lighted  from  three  sides.  If  properly 
boarded,  tight  above  the  roosting  platforms,  it  will  give 
a  good  warm  backing  for  the  roosts,  none  of  these  com- 
ing against  the  cold,  outside  wall,  as  in  the  ordinary 
shed-long  house  without  an  alley.  Unless  the  north 


MODERN  WAYS   OF  HOUSING  215 

wall  is  double  boarded,  I  believe  the  placing  of  roosts 
against  the  north  wall  to  be  a  mistake,  notwithstanding 
the  common  custom. 

A  house  in  which  work  is  to  be  done  must  have  head 
room,  and  this  form  of  house  may  have  a  double-pitched 
roof,  unequal,  seven  to  eight  feet  at  the  highest  point. 
The  short  pitch  will  be  sharp.  The  long  one  cannot 
be  so,  unless  a  roof  window  is  used.  This  is  not 
usually  found  desirable.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  set 
them  so  that  they  will  not  leak,  and  not  many  people 
are  found  who  pronounce  them  satisfactory. 

Having  for  years  studied  every  form  of  poultry-house 
plan  known,  I  consider  this,  for  a  three-pen  house,  carry- 
ing from  ninety  to  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  birds, 
about  as  satisfactory  as  any. 

Here,  where  lumber  is  high,  such  a  house  could  be 
built,  covered  with  roofing  felt,  for  something  like 
seventy  dollars,  provided  the  work  were  done  by  a  man 
at  $1.50  a  day.  This  is  of  hemlock,  without  floor. 
This  seems  a  high  price  to  those  who  are  accustomed 
to  house  hens  for  little  or  nothing,  in  a  shack  that 
amounts  to  little  or  nothing,  but  the  usual  allowance 
for  a  fairly  good  poultry-house,  as  ordinarily  built,  with- 
out floor,  has  been  for  years  about  one  dollar  per  hen 
when  work  is  hired. 

Fifty  hens  is  so  near  the  average  number  the  American 
farmer  likes  to  winter,  that  I  think  readers  may  be  in- 


2i6      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

terested  in  a  real  American  problem  which  was  sub- 
mitted by  one  of  my  correspondents :  — 

"I  want  a  house  that  will  accommodate  fifty  hens  in  winter. 
I  am  thinking  of  trying  Rhode  Island  Reds  and  of  excavating 
to  a  depth  of  two  feet  on  a  southerly  slope,  leaving  a  bank  on  the 
north  side  and  the  east  and  west  ends,  then  walling  to  the  sur- 
face with  rock  or  concrete  and  using  the  same  as  a  founda- 
tion, the  scratching  shed  to  be  on  the  south  side,  and  the 
house  to  be  boarded  up  on  the  west  end,  from  which  comes  most 
of  our  wind.  I  want  to  build  so  as  to  have  one  room  in  which 
to  set  hens,  so  that  they  may  be  away  from  the  other  hens.  Will 
a  long  muslin  window  on  the  south  be  enough,  or  should  there  be 
glass  also  ?  The  coldest  weather  is  about  thirteen  degrees  below 
zero,  but  we  have  mostly  sunshiny  days.  In  building  the  frame 
above  ground,  should  I  double  board,  or  can  I  use  tar  paper  on 
the  inside  ?  Would  like  to  use  tar  paper  to  keep  out  mites,  if 
it  will  not  be  injurious  to  the  chickens. 

"  Lumber  in  rough  is  twenty- three  dollars  and  twenty-five 
dollars  a  thousand.  Lime  and  cement  are  each  one  dollar  a 
hundred-weight.  Would  the  stone  or  concrete  become  damp 
in  cold  weather,  so  as  to  cause  sickness  ?  I  am  new  at  the 
poultry  trade,  and  any  advice  you  could  give  me  will  be 
gratefully  received. 

"I  want  eggs  in  winter  more  than  anything  else.  February  i, 
1908, 1  had  twenty-seven  hens,  and  on  February  i,  1909, 1  had 
sixteen  hens,  having  sold  down  to  that  number,  and  giving  them 
credit  with  just  what  chickens  and  eggs  I  had  sold,  they  had 
netted  me  just  $45.55.  Of  course,  the  scraps  from  the  house 
and  the  milk  with  their  feed  were  not  charged  against  them,  but 
we  ate  a  good  many  chickens,  and  all  the  eggs  we  could  use  part 
of  the  time,  and  all  we  needed  all  the  time,  for  which  the  hens 


MODERN   WAYS    OF  HOUSING  217 

received  no  credit,  and  I  bought  all  their  feed.  I  crossed  Brown 
Leghorns  with  Plymouth  Rocks,  and  they  made  fine  layers 
and  good  rustlers  and  were  of  good  size." 

This  was  the  answer :  A  hillside  is  always  a  tempting 
proposition  to  the  builder  of  shelter  houses,  and,  unless 
one  has  had  experience,  he  is  more  than  likely  to  build 
trouble  for  himself. 

The  climate  and  the  character  of  the  soil  have  some 
bearing  on  the  matter.  If  you  don't  have  much  damp 
weather,  you  can  risk  something  along  this  line ;  and  on 
sandy  soil  there  is  not  the  danger  that  there  is  where  the 
soil  is  heavy  and  holds  moisture  persistently.  But  our 
own  main  house  stands  on  a  gentle  slope,  and  the  soil  is 
pure  sand ;  yet  in  the  spring  thaws,  and  when  there  are 
heavy  rains,  we  have  to  fight  all  the  time  to  keep  the 
water  from  seeping  in.  This  house,  however,  has  no 
stone  foundation.  The  house  built  into  a  side  hill, 
when  built  just  right,  has  a  drain  entirely  surrounding 
it,  to  cut  off  the  water.  Where  this  is  not  considered 
necessary,  a  drain  is  in  the  best  practice  laid  under  the 
walls  and  provided  with  an  outlet  for  surplus  water. 
When  neither  of  these  methods  has  been  followed  in 
building,  the  makeshift  way  is  to  bank  up  sharply  be- 
hind the  building,  so  as  to  provide  what  is  practically 
a  surface  drain. 

As  to  the  floor-space,  custom  ranges  from  three  square 
feet  to  ten  square  feet  for  each  fowl  housed.  Three  feet 


2i8      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

is  crowding,  unless  the  hens  have  open  range.  Con- 
ditions must  always  settle  such  questions.  If  you  are 
to  have  a  fine,  open  scratching  shed  and  sunny  weather 
most  of  the  time,  you  will  not  need  much  light  in  the 
inner  room,  so  far  as  the  hens  are  concerned;  but  for 
ventilation  and  sunning,  I  think  it  preferable  to  have  a 
window  or  a  frame  that  opens,  or  a  door,  so  that  sun- 
shine may  reach  the  roosts  and  corners.  Get  sunshine 
in  somehow,  it'  does  not  much  matter  how,  if  the 
hens  do  not  occupy  the  house  in  the  daytime.  Per- 
sonally, I  like  one  west  window.  It  may  not  give  quite 
so  much  warmth,  but  it  gives  some  sunshine  several 
hours  longer.  This  for  the  apartment  where  the  hens 
spend  the  hours  of  daylight. 

I  don't  see  that  you  need  double  boarding,  though,  of 
course,  it  makes  it  warmer.  Hens  sometimes  interfere 
with  paper  that  is  down  to  the  floor,  of  whatever  charac- 
ter, according  to  my  experience.  You  might  board  up 
fifteen  inches,  say;  then  use  tar  paper  the  rest  of  the 
way  on  the  cold  side.  I  never  heard  of  its  injuring  the 
birds  in  any  way.  Why  should  it  ?  The  best-liked  plan 
for  securing  ventilation  and  warmth  at  the  same  time 
is  to  build  with  a  double  pitch,  put  in  a  very  loose  over- 
head flooring  just  above  a  man's  height,  and  fill  in  above 
loosely  with  straw.  A  door  is  arranged  in  the  wall  at  the 
peak  (sometimes  an  opening  at  each  end).  When  this 
is  open,  the  loose  straw  allows  ventilation  without  drafts. 


MODERN   WAYS   OF   HOUSING  219 

I  will  say  once  more  that  the  question  of  cold  and 
dampness  in  a  fowl-house  depends  very  largely  upon  the 
ventilation.  Dampness,  which  you  cannot  shut  out  by 
any  method  of  building,  will  come  from  the  breath  of 
the  fowls  and  the  droppings.  A  most  practical  method 
to  obviate  this  difficulty  is  the  open  scratching  shed. 
But  in  the  roosting  apartment  it  is,  of  course,  the  worst, 
and,  no  matter  how  you  build,  your  closed  apartment 
will  be  damp  and  cold  unless  sun  and  air  get  into  it 
every  day.  Plan  for  this,  and  you  will  not  have  much 
trouble,  I  think,  in  sunny  Colorado. 

The  Brown  Leghorn  always  makes  a  good  cross,  I 
think.  My  own  preference  is  for  Rose  Comb  Brown 
Leghorns  crossed  with  Wyandottes,  or  at  least  a  rose- 
combed  or  a  pea-combed  fowl.  But  I  never  yet  heard 
any  one  find  fault  with  the  birds  that  resulted  from  any 
Leghorn  cross.  If  you  get  Rhode  Island  Reds,  I  think 
you  can  have  some  enjoyment  from  making  a  trial  of 
the  Brown  Leghorn-Rhode  Island  Red  cross.  To  use 
a  few  purebred  birds  for  crossing,  and  the  first-cross 
birds  for  the  main  flock  is,  to  my  mind,  the  most 
satisfactory  method  for  the  average  person.  Many 
people  differ  with  me  in  this,  but  —  they  have  that 
privilege. 

Another  American  farmer,  wishing  to  plan  to  throw 
two  stones  at  one  bird, — to  vary  the  old  saying  a  bit, — 
submitted  his  problem  thus :  — 


220      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

"Please  let  me  know  if  it  would  be  well  for  me  to  build  a  hen- 
house with  cement  wall  on  the  back.  I  have  a  nice  lot  of  stone, 
the  size  of  a  hen's  egg.  I  want  to  build  a  twelve-inch  wall  one 
hundred  feet  long.  The  front  of  the  house  will  be  of  lumber. 
I  would  like  to  get  rid  of  the  stone.  Please  tell  me  how  to  build 
the  cement  wall." 

Reply :  To  make  a  poultry-house  which  is,  practically, 
a  stone  house,  yet  to  have  it  bone  dry,  has  been  a  prob- 
lem to  many  a  worker.  I  think  it  may  be  laid  down  as 
a  first  law  that  few  poultry-houses  can  be  made  thor- 
oughly dry  unless  there  is  a  drain  pretty  well  all  around 
them.  Some  builders  manage  to  get  drainage  by  throw- 
ing up  a  knoll  on  which  to  build,  or  taking  advantage  of 
such  a  natural  position,  but  natural  knolls  well  drained 
and  also  properly  sheltered  are  not  so  common  as  could 
be  wished,  and  when  natural  conditions  are  not  favor- 
able, we  must  make  them  artificially  favorable  whenever 
possible. 

Cement  as  a  helper  to  the  farmer  and  small  householder 
and  villager,  indeed  to  practically  all  real-estate  owners, 
is  growing  in  use  and  favor  by  leaps  and  bounds.  Just 
recently  a  farmer's  wife  of  my  acquaintance,  having 
borne  the  last  straw  of  inconvenience  and  dirt  by  reason 
of  ground  sloping  toward  the  house,  etc.,  demanded 
for  the  hundredth  time  (this  time  effectually)  several 
bags  of  cement.  She  captured  a  passing  mechanic,  de- 
terminedly insisted  that  the  "sometime"  was  now,  and 


MODERN   WAYS   OF   HOUSING  221 

is  now  glorying  in  solid,  broad  porch  floors  of  cement, 
solid  walks  from  both  doors  to  the  street,  and  gates 
that  don't  sag.  The  last  I  saw  of  her  she  had  an  ad- 
ditional lot  of  cement  in  the  wagon  with  herself  and 
babies,  and  said  that  "Jim"  had  a  box  of  the  right  size 
all  ready  for  a  "form"  for  a  horse-block,  which  would 
be  in  use  in  a  day  or  two.  Cisterns,  cesspools,  water- 
lily  ponds,  even  brooders  for  early  spring  chicks, 
hundreds  of  other  handy  and  satisfying  things,  may  all 
come  out  of  the  sand-pile  and  the  cement  bag,  and  I  see 
them  multiplying  on  the  farms  wherever  I  go,  while  it  is 
reported  that  lumber  is  already  lower  in  price  because 
of  the  great  popularity  and  usefulness  of  cement.  Per- 
haps this  is  a  trifle  outside  of  my  story,  but  I  want  you  to 
have  confidence  in  cement. 

The  house  should  be  made  with  hollow  walls,  to 
secure  dryness  and  prevent  the  passage  of  frost.  The 
foundations  should  also  be  below  the  frost  line.  Exca- 
vate a  trench  fifteen  to  eighteen  inches  wide  to  a  depth 
below  the  frost  line,  and  fill  with  concrete  composed  of 
one  part  good  Portland  cement  and  three  parts  clean, 
sharp,  coarse  sand.  Mix  this  thoroughly  while  dry,  then 
wet  and  work  up  to  the  proper  consistency  to  handle 
well  and  pour  it  over  a  layer  of  the  stones  in  the  bottom 
of  the  trench,  ramming  all  down  well.  Be  absolutely 
certain  that  every  crevice  is  filled.  Then  add  more 
stones  and  more  concrete  till  the  trench  is  filled.  The 


222       HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

stones  should  be  clean,  that  the  concrete  may  adhere 
thoroughly.  For  the  benefit  of  others  who  may  have 
no  stones,  I  will  say  that  the  most  common  method  of 
making  concrete  work  where  stones  are  not  available  is 
to  mix  with  the  cement  and  sand  coal  cinders  or  broken 
—  that  is,  crushed — stone,  the  whole  forming,  on  hard- 
ening, a  solid  block. 

A  firm  of  contractors  has,  within  a  few  hundred  feet 
of  my  residence,  built  recently  upward  of  a  dozen  houses, 
and  the  foundations  of  every  one  are  of  concrete.  They 
build  a  crib  with  heavy  planks,  well  braced,  just  the  size 
and  height  of  the  wall  to  be,  make  up  their  mixture 
of  cement,  sand,  and  cinders,  and  fill  in  the  crib.  Then 
the  planks  are  left  till  the  wall  is  hardened.  Where 
stones  are  readily  available,  it  might  be  better  to  use 
these  instead  of  the  cinders.  But  all  should  be  rammed 
down  well. 

The  building  should  have  hollow  walls.  Most  mod- 
ern builders  secure  these  by  the  use  of  hollow  cement 
blocks,  but  this  would  preclude  the  use  of  the  stone 
which  our  friend  wishes  to  dispose  of.  As  to  the  com- 
parative cost,  that  would  depend  on  circumstances, 
cost  of  labor,  etc.,  which  each  must  figure  for  himself. 
Of  course,  the  wall  could  be  built  solid,  and  the  inside 
be  lined  with  boards  nailed  to  furring  strips ;  this  would 
be  easier  to  build,  but  would  be  more  expensive,  and  I 
would  prefer  the  hollow  wall  for  sanitary  reasons,  if 


MODERN   WAYS   OF   HOUSING  223 

for  no  other.  The  wall  may  be  built  exactly  plumb,  or 
battered;  that  is,  sloping  in  slightly  from  the  base;  but 
if  built  plumb,  pains  should  be  taken  that  it  is  exact. 
The  foundation  should  also  be  a  little  wider  than  the 
walls. 

The  hollow  in  the  wall  may  be  continuous  from  end 
to  end,  in  which  case  the  two  outside  faces  must  be  fas- 
tened together  with  rods  passing  through  both  walls; 
or  piers  may  be  constructed  at  intervals,  forming  solid 
places  in  the  wall  to  tie  the  whole  together.  The  latter 
is  probably  easier.  In  this  case  a  "core"  is  made  of 
such  size  as  to  leave  the  face  walls  about  three  inches 
thick;  an  air  space  of  six  inches  is  good.  These  cores 
are  tapered  slightly,  so  that  they  may  be  withdrawn 
easily  when  the  work  is  finished.  Sometimes  they  are 
made  collapsible,  which  facilitates  their  removal.  All 
being  in  place,  the  concrete  is  mixed  as  for  the  founda- 
tion. For  an  ordinary  wall  one  part  cement  to  four  of 
sand  answers  very  well.  If  forms  are  used  the  height 
of  the  wall,  they  may  be  left  in  place  until  the  wall  is  well 
hardened;  if  narrow  forms  are  used,  which  are  raised 
as  the  work  progresses,  the  concrete  will  usually  be 
hardened  sufficiently  for  this  in  twenty-four  hours;  but 
no  pressure  should  be  put  on  the  wall  under  a  week  or 
two  after  it  is  completed.  Not  only  the  walls,  but  the 
roof,  also,  may  be  made  of  concrete.  In  this  case,  it 
should  be  reenforced  with  heavy  netting  or  steel  rods. 


224      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

A  slope  of  one  foot  in  sixteen  is  sufficient.  The  floor, 
also,  may  be  of  the  same  material,  and  here  would  be 
an  excellent  opportunity  to  dispose  of  a  goodly  quantity 
of  those  stones. 

To  prevent  such  a  wall  cracking,  it  may  be  divided 
into  sections  by  placing  some  thin  material  like  a  sheet 
of  tarred  paper  crosswise  the  wall,  but  usually  I  prefer  to 
risk  the  cracks.  In  case  cracks  do  form,  as  the  wall  dries, 
they  can  be  easily  stopped  with  a  little  cement  and  sand. 
If  such  a  building  is  well  constructed,  it  ought  to  prove 
very  satisfactory.  I  might  say  that  I  have  seen  a  poultry- 
house  constructed  with  a  frame  as  though  to  be  boarded 
up,  but  instead  lathed  and  plastered,  both  inside  and 
out,  the  plaster  being  made  of  the  best  cement,  so  that 
the  walls  were  as  hard  as  stone  when  thoroughly  dry. 
Such  a  house  can  be  painted  any  color  desired,  and  is 
much  more  sightly  than  one  covered  with  black  tarred 
paper. 

Perhaps  the  chief  present-day  interest  in  poultry- 
house  construction  is  in  connection  with  the  cloth  front. 
It  is  voiced  in  a  modified  form  by  one  inquirer  as 
follows :  — 

"I  would  like  to  ask  C.  S.  Valentine's  opinion  of  the  Tolman 
fresh-air  poultry-house  or  of  any  other  up-to-date  fresh-air 
house." 

Reply:  The  semi-suspicion  with  which  so  many 
seem  to  regard  the  fresh-air  poultry-house  is  based  on 


MODERN   WAYS   OF  HOUSING  225 

a  misconception.  Such  houses  are  not,  usually,  colder 
than  the  closed  house,  unless  the  latter  is  extra  well 
built  and  particularly  well  ventilated.  The  ventilation 
has  the  last  word  to  say  about  warmth,  and  no  house 
filled  with  hens  and  kept  tightly  closed,  without  ex- 
tremely good  ventilation,  can  be  kept  warm.  The  air 
will  have  a  damp,  dead  chill  which  goes  to  the  bones, 
and  this  is  the  very  thing  to  bring  on  colds  and  roup. 
Of  course,  there  may  be  times,  say,  in  the  middle  of 
the  night  in  below  zero  weather,  when  the  open  house 
will  show  a  lower  temperature  than  a  closed  one,  but 
the  average  temperature  will  usually,  I  feel  quite  sure, 
be  found  higher. 

Mr.  Tolman  is  by  no  means  the  first  man  who  built 
an  open-front  poultry-house,  but  his  house  has  some 
very  good  special  features,  and  is  the  one  that  has,  per- 
haps, been  most  talked  about.  It  is  well  worthy  of 
close  study,  since  virtually  all  the  reports  we  hear  from 
it  agree  in  the  statement  that  both  health  and  egg 
production  are  better  in  this  style  of  house  than  in  the 
closed  houses  previously  used.  The  Tolman  house 
proper  is  not  a  continuous  house,  and  any  one  inter- 
ested should  put  up  a  small  one  on  trial  before  getting 
in  too  deep. 

There  have  been  numerous  adverse  criticisms  of  this 
house,  and  very  many  houses  built  which  are  modifi- 
cations of  it;  indeed,  Mr.  Tolman  has  himself  made 
Q 


226      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

quite  a  number  of  changes  from  the  original  form,  and 
whereas  he  once  stood  for  the  wide-open  house  without 
reserve,  he  now  admits  that  the  colder  sections  of  the 
country  may  require  cloth  curtains  for  severe  weather, 
preferably  before  the  roosts. 

There  are,  however,  some  specific  good  points  about 
this  house  which  it  is  well  for  any  poultryman  to  con- 
sider. One  very  little  yet  quite  far-reaching  one  is 
that  the  floor  of  the  roosting  platform  is  placed  above 
the  level  of  the  (low)  front  plate,  so  that  it  protects  the 
birds  from  the  air  which  enters  at  the  open  front.  An- 
other point  is  that  the  houses  are  set,  not  broadside, 
but  end  to  the  south,  so  that  the  roosts  at  the  back  end 
are  well  removed  from  the  drafts  of  air  that  may  enter. 
The  open  end  is  to  the  south,  or  a  little  east  of  south, 
and  the  window  and  door  are  opposite  each  other  on 
the  east  and  west.  This  lets  the  sun  shine  in  pretty 
well  all  over  the  house  at  some  time  during  the  day, 
and  it  provides  for  central  cross  ventilation  in  the 
summer.  In  a  very  bleak  and  exposed  place  Mr. 
Tolman  would  use,  instead  of  the  usual  inch-mesh 
netting  front,  a  mesh  of  half-inch  or  even  quarter-inch 
netting.  This  will  keep  out  much  more  snow  than 
one  can  easily  realize,  since  there  are  so  many  wires  for 
it  to  strike.  The  dimensions  of  the  two  recommended 
sizes  are  ten  by  sixteen  feet  and  fourteen  by  twenty-four 
feet.  The  roof  is  double  pitch,  but  with  a  long  slope  to 


MODERN   WAYS    OF   HOUSING  227 

the  front,  the  peak  coming  just  in  front  of  the  roosts, 
where  he  claims  that  the  warm  air  banks  and  protects 
the  birds.  These  are  the  distinctive  points  of  the 
Tolman  house,  and  I  think  the  builder  who  believes 
he  has  a  better  one,  which  is  any  modification  of  this, 
has  it  yet  to  prove.  The  originator  runs  his  houses 
entirely  open,  but  says  that  "  in  very  bleak  and  exposed 
places"  it  may  be  well  to  use  a  loose-woven  muslin 
curtain  before  the  roosts. 

A  goodly  proportion  of  those  who  refer  to  the  Tol- 
man house  have  some  so-called  improvements  to  sug- 
gest, most  of  which  can  be  shown  by  the  originator  of 
this  house  to  be  the  reverse  of  "improvements."  The 
modification  most  often  suggested,  or  tried,  is  the  cur- 
tain front  to  the  building.  Mr.  Tolman  says:  "My 
advice  is  never  to  use  the  curtain,  except  in  the  most 
extreme  cold  weather,  when  the  temperature  is  zero  or 
below." 

Back  of  Mr.  Tolman,  it  is  claimed,  was  the  advice 
of  a  veterinarian  whose  help  he  had  asked  to  get  rid 
of  a  scourge  of  roup.  He  was  urged  to  put  his  birds 
where  they  would  get  more  fresh  air,  and  was  told  that 
they  would  then  tend  to  get  well  of  themselves.  Then 
this  fresh-air  house  was  evolved,  with  immediate  results 
for  the  better.  This  type  of  house  was  the  outcome  of 
more  than  the  ordinary  amount  of  experience,  and  for 
this  reason  alone  it  is  worth  sufficient  consideration  to 


228       HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

learn  whether  one  can  make  it  fit  into  his  own  condi- 
tions. 

I  have  often  made  mention  of  especially  good  results 
in  the  use  of  the  open  shed  with  a  small,  elevated  roost- 
ing coop  at  the  rear.  This  is  the  nearest  to  the  Tol- 
man  idea  of  anything  I  have  seen,  and  it  has  been 
evolved  independently,  just  through  the  demands  of 
the  daily  work  and  experience.  I  think  we  had  it  in 
use  before  the  Tolman  house  was  ever  heard  of.  Our 
own  plan  admits  the  use  of  the  continuous  house, 
whereas  the  Tolman  plan  is  for  colony  houses. 

One  man  wrote  to  the  doctor  above  named  that  he 
had  tried  the  fresh-air  house  and  did  not  like  it.  But 
his  own  modification  was  quite  a  bit  higher  and  only 
two-thirds  as  deep,  and  he  did  not  have  the  long  south 
slope  of  roof  and  the  low  front  studs  (five  feet  or  less. 
Some  build  them  as  low  as  three  and  one-half  feet 
front  studs).  This  inquirer  had  missed  all  the  good 
points,  except  the  single  one  of  the  fresh  air ! 

Professor  Brooks,  of  Hatch  Experiment  Station, 
once  tried  a  rather  drastic  experiment  in  fresh-air 
work.  In  a  wire  coop,  covered,  at  one  end  only,  with 
"a  light  roof  of  building  paper,"  he  placed  a  lot  of 
fowls  showing  signs  of  roup.  Over  the  sides  of  the 
roofed  end  was  placed  a  protection  of  burlaps.  "  They 
recovered  in  a  short  time,  and  the  hens  began  to  lay 
in  midwinter,  almost  literally  while  living  in  a  snow 


MODERN   WAYS    OF   HOUSING  229 

bank."  I  don't  think  I  should  want  to  emulate  this, 
but  it  shows  what  fresh  air  can  do  in  the  cure  of  roup. 

A  California  man  is  advocating  an  "improved" 
fresh-air  house  which  has  one  or  two  good  points. 
That  of  a  sloping  floor  of  concrete,  with  a  two  and  a 
half  inch  dip  toward  the  front,  could  probably  be 
adopted  with  profit  by  any  one  who  uses  houses  open 
to  the  weather  and  without  curtains.  This  is  a  two- 
story  house  —  another  attempt  to  attain  the  age-old 
desire  of  double  space  under  one  roof.  The  house  is 
eight  by  sixteen  feet  on  the  ground.  The  lower  portion 
is  a  scratching  shed,  four  feet  in  the  clear  at  the  front. 
The  upper  is  the  roosting  room,  with  trap-doors  at  the 
front  for  easy  cleaning,  and  a  floor  rather  ingenious  in 
that  it  is  level  for  two  and  one-half  feet  at  the  front, 
but  thence  it  slopes  upward  to  the  extreme  rear,  which 
lets  the  droppings  roll  down  and  forward,  and  also  gives 
six  feet  of  head  room  at  the  rear  of  the  scratching  shed. 
He  uses  interchangeable  curtain  fronts,  placing  them 
on  the  scratching  sheds  during  the  day,  or  in  front  of 
the  roosts  at  night  in  extreme  weather  only. 

It  is  reported  that  a  professor  in  the  New  York 
University,  raising  chickens  as  a  hobby,  has  used  the 
muslin  front  after  a  fashion  of  his  own,  tacking  one 
thickness  on  each  side  of  a  two-by-four  studding,  thus 
securing  double  ventilation  and  air-space  between.  By 
the  use  of  a  self -registering  thermometer  he  has  been 


230      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

able  to  prove  (not  merely  guess)  that  even  in  zero 
weather  the  temperature  inside  rarely  went  below 
freezing.  Double-thick  muslin  would,  of  course,  cut 
off  much  light,  and  he  probably  used  no  boarding  at 
all.  One  point  is  not  usually  mentioned.  I  think  I 
have  never,  indeed,  seen  any  mention  of  the  fact  that 
a  muslin  front  in  a  small  house  would  apparently  cut 
off  more  light  than  in  a  large  one.  There  is  one  point 
sometimes  made  in  favor  of  the  cloth  front  that  is  not 
made  quite  fairly.  For  instance,  the  cost  is  compared 
with  that  of  good  lumber,  without  noting  that  the  cloth 
must  be  replaced  several  times  during  what  would 
be  the  life  of  the  lumber. 

A  man  in  our  own  town  who  has  tried  muslin  fronts 
had  trouble  at  first  because  his  coops  were  too  warm 
at  midday.  The  muslin  was  almost  as  bad  as  glass, 
when  he  had  it  permanently  nailed  to  the  front.  But 
after  putting  it  on  frames  which  could  be  raised  at 
will,  he  was  much  better  pleased  with  its  use.  Where 
both  cloth  and  glass  are  used,  and  there  are  doors  be- 
sides, the  cloth  may  be  tacked  permanently  in  place. 

Where  lumber  is  high  and  one  has  houses  already 
built,  I  don't  kno^  a  way  that  suits  me  better  than  to 
buy  the  ready-made  "weaning  coops"  for  use  as 
roosting  rooms.  The  kind  we  have  are  three  by  six 
feet,  and  about  three  feet  high  in  front,  floored,  with  a 
door  at  the  centre  of  the  side  and  a  strip  of  wire  netting 


MODERN   WAYS   OF   HOUSING  231 

along  the  top  of  the  front.  Burlaps  or  bagging  can  be 
dropped  in  front  of  this,  if  desired.  We  often  find  it 
good  to  use.  Such  a  coop  will  carry  twenty  fowls, 
and  they  will  lay  well  in  January.  It  can  be  set  on  a 
roosting  platform. 

There  is  one  point  in  a  letter  from  another  corre- 
spondent that  has  a  bearing  on  the  general  discussion 
of  cloth  fronts  in  poultry-houses,  and  the  differences  of 
opinion  with  regard  to  them.  "I  have  a  warm  roost," 
he  says,  "but  the  hens  run  on  the  barn  floor."  This 
is  the  ideal  for  poultry  —  a  warm  place  at  night,  and 
a  place  to  scratch  and  gather  small  grains  throughout 
the  day.  It  is  the  lack  in  making  the  night  conditions 
sufficiently  comfortable  that  causes  much  of  the  failure 
to  obtain  eggs,  and  in  the  cloth-front  house  this  night 
comfort  is  imperative.  The  cloth  front,  of  common 
unbleached  muslin  most  often,  was  much  recommended 
about  a  dozen  years  ago,  as  a  movable  closing  to  the 
front  of  a  scratching  shed,  which  shed  was  supple- 
mentary to  a  close  house,  small  and  warm,  for  roosting 
quarters.  The  muslin  was  intended  for  use  only  at 
nights  and  on  stormy  or  very  windy  days,  and  was 
really  only  a  storm  shelter.  There  are  a  good  many 
things  yet  to  be  said  about  winter  poultry  keeping,  and 
it  takes  more  courage  to  say  some  of  them  than  most 
writers  have,  especially  as  they  know  that  a  storm  of 
adverse  criticism  is  likely  to  follow  the  saying.  One 


232      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

of  these  things  is  this :  In  average  sunny  winter  weather 
no  other  outdoor  shelter  is  as  warm  as  an  open  shed 
into  which  the  sun  pours ;  that  is,  having  the  whole- 
some warmth  that  is  favorable  to  the  health  and  well- 
being  of  stock  of  all  kinds.  When  the  sun  shines,  and 
the  air  is  reasonably  warm,  —  that  is,  in  average  winter 
weather,  —  an  open  shed  is  warmer  than  a  cloth-front 
house  with  the  front  closed.  It  is  not  so  stuffily  warm 
as  a  double-walled  house  undoubtedly,  because  there 
is  more  circulation;  and  yet  I  am  not  sure  that  the 
thermometer  would  not  register  higher.  It  surely  would 
if  the  sun  shone  on  it,  and  the  sun  does  shine  on  the 
hens  in  such  a  shed. 

The  average  days,  then,  offer  no  difficulties;  it  is 
the  extreme  days,  the  dark  days,  the  rainy  and  snowy 
days  and  the  very  windy  days,  when  the  wind  is  from 
the  point  facing  the  openings,  in  addition  to  the  cold 
of  late  afternoon  and  early  morning,  that  furnish  the 
problem.  Then  it  is  a  question  whether  the  drop-cur- 
tain, cloth  front,  if  entire,  will  be  warm  enough.  Per- 
haps the  larger  number  now  compromise  the  matter, 
putting  in  one  window,  and  a  cloth-covered  frame, 
like  a  large  window,  which  may  be  closed  on  cold  days, 
and  opened  whenever  the  outside  temperature  goes 
above  that  of  the  house.  The  general  misconception 
with  regard  to  the  cloth  front  is  that  it  must  of  neces- 
sity be  too  cold.  But  while  air  passes  slowly  and  con- 


MODERN   WAYS   OF   HOUSING  233 

tinuously  through  the  cloth,  it  is  an  exchange  process; 
heat  trying  to  get  out,  cold  trying  to  get  in,  and  there 
is  a  continual  battle  going  on,  so  that  the  passing  off 
of  heat  is  slow.  With  glass  there  is  an  active  radiation 
of  heat  all  the  time,  so  that  a  glass  window,  unless 
double,  is  likely  to  waste  more  heat  than  the  partial 
cloth  front  of  the  same  size.  Yet,  when  we  come  to 
the  heart  of  the  matter,  there  is  no  need  whatever  for 
a  quarrel  between  these  systems  on  the  score  of  com- 
parative cold,  as  either  one  of  them  could  be  shuttered, 
if  thought  desirable,  except  in  the  case  of  a  full  cloth 
front  to  a  large  shed,  when  this  might  not  be  feasible. 

Even  in  a  double-walled  house  cloth  could  be  used 
over  some  of  the  openings  in  such  a  way  as  to  be  con- 
trolled in  extreme  weather,  to  the  great  betterment  of 
conditions.  Narrow  slits  near  the  roof  might  be 
covered  with  cloth,  and  thus  serve  as  ventilators,  but 
without  the  draught  that  is  the  bane  of  the  poultry 
keeper  who  uses  the  usual  style  of  ventilator. 

A  few  days  ago  I  saw  this  statement  from  a  very 
practical  man  and  editor:  "Warm  houses  are  still 
favored  by  most  poultry  keepers  who  try  to  get  good 
results  from  their  fowls,  and  roup  is  still  very  preva- 
lent." A  great  many  other  poultrymen  believe  that 
the  increase  in  roup  in  recent  years  is  directly  attrib- 
utable to  the  hothouse  conditions  in  which  the  birds 
were  increasingly  kept.  This  is  supported  in  some 


234 


HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 


degree  by  the  disgusted  remark  so  often  heard  on  the 
farm,  "I  never  had  a  case  of  roup  on  the  place  till  I 
began  to  take  special  care  of  the  hens  and  baby  them." 
Or,  it  may  be,  "till  I  got  fancy  stock,"  in  which  latter 
case  the  stock  gets  the  blame.  The  amount  of  it  is 
that  hothouse  stock  must  have  special  conditions,  and 
no  break  in  the  care;  it  cannot  stand  ups  and  downs, 
and  its  progeny  may  not  be  worth  much. 

The  manager  of  a  large  poultry- farm  says:  "You 
can  always  tell  a  hen  that  has  been  comfortable  all 
night.  She  gets  off  the  roost  in  the  morning  feeling 
rested  and  cheerful,  starts  in  to  make  trouble  with  her 
neighbors,  kicks  up  the  litter,  and,  later,  steps  up  to 
the  box-office  and  pays  her  dues."  This  is  an  expres- 
sive way  of  stating  the  facts  which  a  close  observer  sees. 

But  there  is  a  legitimate  use  of  cloth  in  the  poultry- 
house,  over  which  there  need  not  be  so  much  difference 
of  opinion.  As  long  as  men  have  kept  fowls  in  sepa- 
rate pens,  so  long  have  they  been  scheming  to  cut 
down  the  expense  of  partitions.  With  males  in  two 
adjoining  pens,  the  partitions  must  needs  be  opaque 
below,  though  I  have  seen  inch-mesh  netting  used  on 
both  sides  the  dividing  uprights.  This  makes  all  light 
available  to  all  pens,  but  does  not  cut  off  draughts, 
and  it  is  expensive.  In  one  very  large  house  I  saw 
laths  nailed  close  together  to  make  partitions.  Such 
muslin  as  is  used  for  fronts  would  be  cheaper  than 


MODERN   WAYS   OF   HOUSING  235 

almost  anything  else,  and  it  would  allow  the  passage 
of  some  light.  It  would  not  be  subject  to  decay  through 
wet  as  in  the  case  of  the  front,  and  the  only  real  argu- 
ment against  it  would  be  that  it  would  attract  lice. 
Still,  it  could  be  sprayed  with  ease,  and  would  present  no 
cracks.  I  should  consider  it  decidedly  superior  to  lath. 

A  large  difference  in  results  comes  from  varia- 
tions in  handling  the  fowls.  If  houses  are  low  and 
overstocked,  conditions  will  result  which  will  be  dif- 
ferent from  those  following  the  housing  of  a  smaller 
number  in  the  same  space.  All  who  make  a  study  of 
handling  much  laying  stock  learn  after  a  while  that  the 
houses  need  to  be  opened  to  the  sun  and  air  freely 
whenever  the  weather  will  allow.  They  learn  that 
the  cloth-covered  openings  admit  more  light  and  air 
than  they  can  get  in  any  other  way  with  so  little  dis- 
advantage, and  they  also  learn  that  a  small  window, 
in  addition  to  the  cloth,  is  a  welcome  addition  on  days 
when,  though  the  sun  may  shine,  the  extreme  cold  or 
a  wind  from  the  front  makes  it  undesirable  to  open  the 
doors.  The  three  kinds  of  opening  give  the  best  con- 
trol of  the  situation  under  many  varying  conditions, 
and  it  is  this  control  which  settles  the  question  of 
profit  many  times,  if  not  nearly  always. 

There  are  many,  of  course  (probably  they  are  in  the 
majority) ,  who  do  not  have  the  door  in  the  front  of  each 
pen.  But  they  try  to  secure  the  same  result  by  fram- 


236      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

ing  the  curtained  opening  so  as  to  be  opened  when 
desired.  They  get  approximately  the  same  results, 
but  not  so  much  sunshine,  light,  and  air  as  is  possible 
with  the  three  openings. 

It  is  at  this  point  that  many  of  those  who  have  con- 
demned the  cloth  ventilation  have  made  a  mistake; 
they  have  used  the  cloth  without  either  window  or 
door,  then  condemned  the  system  because  it  did  not 
admit  sunshine.  I  like  the  front  doors  very  much, 
though  they,  too,  can  be  criticised  unfavorably  from 
some  points  of  view.  (Indeed,  what  is  there  that  can- 
not?) And  there  is  this  to  be  noted:  the  screen  door 
is  as  much  a  necessity  as  the  wooden  door,  unless  the 
yards  have  unusually  good  shelter.  On  our  own 
almost  treeless,  wind-swept,  new  place  we  cannot  ex- 
pose the  birds  without  almost  certain  crops  of  cold 
and  perhaps  roup  to  follow.  If  there  were  sufficient 
shelter  so  that  the  birds  were  not  subjected  to  biting 
winds,  they  could  run  outside  in  sunny  weather  with 
little  detriment,  unless  the  cold  were  severe.  Unless 
they  are  free  to  go  in  and  out  at  all  times  during  the 
day,  the  secret  of  winter  handling  is  to  keep  them  in 
whenever  the  outside  temperature  is  likely  to  be  much 
below  that  to  which  they  have  become  accustomed. 
In  a  sheltered  location  I  should  let  my  birds  run  free 
practically  all  the  time  from,  say,  9.30  A.M.  to  3.30  P.M., 
or  a  little  earlier  on  the  shortest  days. 


MODERN   WAYS   OF  HOUSING  237 

I  have  had  one  pen  of  birds  located  under  a  shed 
(partially  boarded,  but  mainly  wire-screened  in  front), 
and  roosting  in  a  weaning  coop  boarded  over  one-half 
the  front,  the  rest  being  open.  They  disdained,  in 
coldest  weather,  to  snuggle  in  the  boarded  end,  sit- 
ting every  night  opposite  the  screened  portion.  The 
proportion  of  eggs  was  better  than  in  any  other  pen. 


EXPENSIVE   ACCIDENTS 

Netting  Traps  —  Cannibal  Pigs  —  Paying  the  Price  —  Paying 
for  Training 

POSSIBLY  the  American  hen  is  a  little  less  liable  to 
some  forms  of  accident  than  any  others.  This  is 
because  she  is  not  so  heavy  as  the  Asiatics,  nor  so 
curious  and  "breachy"  as  the  high-fliers.  But  every 
poultry-yard  has  its  accidents. 

A  recent  writer  has  put  the  whole  matter  of  success 
or  failure  with  poultry  into  a  nutshell  in  the  following 
sentence:  "It  is  a  business  made  up  of  small  details 
and  full  of  large  possibilities,  but  most  of  us  start  out 
looking  to  the  possibilities  and  overlooking  the  details, 
and  the  result  is  anything  but  what  we  desire." 

If  we  wanted  any  confirmation  as  to  the  endless 
small  details  and  the  remarkable  number  of  little 
things  that  one  may  do  in  the  wrong  way,  we  need 
only  look  at  two  or  three  of  the  books  that  have  been 
written  with  the  purpose  of  steering  the  uncertain  in 
the  right  course.  One  is  a  compendium  of  five  hun- 
dred questions  asked  by  beginners,  and  their  answers. 
A  later  one  is  similar,  but  claims  to  answer  nine 
hundred  and  ninety-nine  questions.  A  third  has  not 
338 


EXPENSIVE   ACCIDENTS  239 

counted  the  questions  it  answers,  but  is  made  up  wholly 
as  a  reference  book  for  quick  information,  and  it  has 
over  two  hundred  and  fifty  large  pages.  This,  in 
addition  to  the  list,  always  growing,  and  numbering 
scores  of  books,  dealing  with  the  profit  in  poultry,  or 
the  handling,  or  the  breeds,  or  incubation,  and  the 
like. 

Just  the  chapter  of  accidents  that  cannot  be  pre- 
vented without  minute  attention  to  detail  or  a  keen 
foresight  for  small  difficulties  is  a  long  and  varied  one. 
A  brief  time  ago  a  descriptive  circular  of  a  new  wire 
netting  drifted  in.  This  was  said  to  excel  all  other 
nettings  in  a  dozen  important  points.  I  asked  an  old 
poultryman  what  he  thought  of  it.  He  glanced  care- 
lessly at  the  picture,  and  turned  away  with  an  indif- 
ferent, "  No  good  ! "  "  Why  do  you  think  so  ?  "  "  Dia- 
mond mesh,  points  up  and  down.  Every  fool  chick 
that  gets  near  it  stands  a  chance  of  getting  its  head  in 
the  wide  part  of  the  mesh  and  shoving  it  down  into 
the  point  till  it  chokes  off  its  own  breath."  Though 
the  new  claimant  seemed  good  in  every  point  other- 
wise, every  experienced  poultryman  knows  that  the 
old  hand  was  right  in  his  criticism. 

I  have  seen  a  well-grown,  thrifty  cockerel  killed  in- 
stantly by  getting  a  broad  grass-blade  across  the  end 
of  the  windpipe.  I  have  seen  chicks  impaled  on  weed 
stubs,  the  end  sticking  out  above  the  back  of  the  bird. 


240      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

I  have  seen  scores  of  chicks  caught  by  the  toes  in  wire 
netting,  heads  hanging,  and  death  sure  if  they  were 
not  released.  I  have  seen  them  caught  broadside  be- 
tween lapping  wire  nettings.  I  have  seen  both  hens 
and  chicks  caught  between  coop  slats  which  were 
nearer  together  at  the  bottom  than  at  the  top.  They 
don't  seem  to  have  sense  to  shove  their  heads  upward 
if  they  get  caught.  I  have  seen  scores  of  chicks  so 
scared  by  their  first  experience  with  a  heavy  shower 
that  they  seemed  to  lose  their  wits,  and  simply  ran 
under  something  that  looked  like  shelter,  whether  it 
gave  any  or  not,  where  they  were  beaten  to  death  by 
the  drenching  rain.  I  have  seen  big,  strutting  males 
put  out  of  commission  by  a  well-directed  blow  on  the 
back  of  the  neck  by  a  weaker  rival.  I  have  seen  chicks 
caught  in  all  sorts  of  situations  by  something  acci- 
dentally thrust  through  the  punch  mark  in  the  web 
of  the  foot. 

I  have  seen  them  drowned  in  drinking  vessels,  and 
choked  to  death  by  thirst,  and  paralyzed  by  the  hot 
sun  of  a  summer  day.  I  have  seen  them  taken  with 
nervous  spasms,  perhaps  the  result  of  a  scare,  or  pos- 
sibly too  much  fresh  meat,  or  who  knows  what  ?  Last 
summer,  one  hot  morning,  I  changed  a  bunch  of 
motherless  chicks,  perhaps  six  weeks  old,  from  one 
yard  to  the  next.  The  new  location  had  a  big  shed, 
under  which  they  were  placed,  but  left  free  to  run  out 


EXPENSIVE  ACCIDENTS  241 

at  will.  Two  hours  later,  while  I  was  at  work  else- 
where, a  quick  and  heavy  shower  came  up.  When  I 
found  the  chicks,  nearly  twenty  of  them  lay  stretched, 
apparently  lifeless,  in  the  open,  as  near  as  they  could 
get  to  their  accustomed  quarters  just  the  other  side 
of  the  fence.  Had  I  not  known  that  plenty  of  heat 
immediately  applied  would  many  times  revive  chicks 
apparently  chilled  to  death,  I  should  have  lost  them 
all,  but  quick  application  of  heat  revived  all  but  three. 
Foresight  will  help  to  ward  off  accidents,  and  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  chicks'  habits  of  taking  things  will  fore- 
fend  them  from  many  dangers,  but  some  things  seem 
beyond  the  power  of  the  chick  overseer  to  avoid. 

In  the  matter  of  feeding,  etc.,  there  are  many  suc- 
cessful ways,  yet  there  are  scores  of  things  one  may  do 
which  will  insure  failure.  I  think  the  one  thing  which 
many  fail  most  to  realize  is  the  insistent  demand  of 
fowls  for  abundant  and  continuous  water-supply. 
Often  what  seems  a  failure  in  feeding  is  only  a  lack  of 
constant  supply  of  water.  This  will  interfere  with  the 
digestion  of  full-fed  chicks  most  seriously.  The  time 
to  impress  these  things  on  our  minds  is  before  we 
begin  the  season.  In  the  matter  of  eggs,  too,  this  lack 
may  be  the  one  missing  link.  For  hens  cannot,  surely, 
give  a  good  supply  of  eggs  without  abundant  water. 
Fortunate,  indeed,  are  those  who  have  pure  running 
streams  within  ready  reach  of  the  fowls.  Yet  near-by 


242      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

water  is  not  by  any  means  always  a  thing  for  con- 
gratulation. People  who  do  not  yard  their  chicks  or 
shut  them  in  safely  at  night  are  full  of  tales  of  ill  luck 
in  having  them  attacked  by  water  vermin,  by  skunks,  by 
early  crows  and  cats,  and  marauding  dogs.  In  the  town 
where  I  live  a  bunch  of  mischievous  dogs  ran  amuck 
for  a  distance  of  more  than  a  mile  early  one  morning, 
and  created  havoc  in  poultry-yards  all  along  the  way. 

Dogs  are  far  from  being  the  only  ravagers.  Last 
season  an  enthusiastic  and  almost  inexperienced  young 
farm  housewife  made  up  her  mind  to  raise  a  goodly 
flock  of  ducks  in  order,  chiefly,  to  provide  feathers  for 
pillows,  etc.  She  hatched  a  fine  lot,  raised  them  al- 
most without  loss  till  very  near  maturity,  and  lost 
about  twenty-five,  after  all  her  work  was  done,  by 
marauding  animals.  It  really  pays  better,  if  in  any 
wise  possible,  to  plan  beforehand  so  that  the  stock  is 
safe,  even  when  the  owner  is  not  on  watch.  This  does 
not  always  work,  however,  in  the  case  of  dogs,  as  they 
have  been  known  to  throw  themselves  upon  wire  net- 
ting with  such  force  as  to  break  it  down. 

Yesterday  a  heading,  "A  Business  Man  in  Chicken- 
dom,"  caught  my  eye,  and  I  read  a  bit  to  see  what  a 
business  man  would  say.  Concerning  his  own  special 
breed,  he  affirmed :  "  Breeders  will  say  that  they  fur- 
nish about  all  to  be  desired  in  a  fowl  —  eggs,  meat,  or 
plumage."  Well,  "breeders"  would  say  that  of  many 


EXPENSIVE   ACCIDENTS  243 

another  variety,  but  even  yet  the  ideal  bird  has  not 
materialized !  Incidentally,  the  business  man  men- 
tioned that  he  raised  a  few  prize-winners.  A  little 
further  along  he  stated  that  he  raised  them  in  A 
coops.  The  A  coop  has  so  many  points  to  recom- 
mend it  that  those  who  see  its  defects  still  continue  to 
use  it  more  or  less.  But  for  a  man  who  hopes  to  raise 
prize-winners  to  use  an  A  coop  is  to  throw  away  a 
good  many  of  his  chances  for  show  birds.  There  is 
probably  no  other  form  of  coop  known  that  is  so  liable 
to  turn  out  deformed  chicks  at  the  end  of  the  season. 
This  is  because  of  the  shape  and  the  restricted  space 
in  the  corners.  This  is  just  another  of  those  details 
that  are  very  likely  to  be  overlooked.  The  "possi- 
bilities" of  those  presumptive  prize-winners  are  so 
great  that  the  small  details  necessary  to  their  produc- 
tion are  being  overlooked. 

At  one  time  I  received  a  letter  from  a  man  without 
health,  without  money,  and  without  experience,  asking 
my  advice  about  keeping  poultry.  He  stated  that  he 
did  not  even  know  one  breed  from  another,  and  that 
he  could  find  no  one  among  his  neighbors  who  was 
making  anything  from  the  poultry  kept.  Now,  what 
advice  dare  one  give  such  an  inquirer,  and  what  chance 
has  he  of  success?  The  whole  problem  can  be  stated 
thus :  It  is  not  at  all  a  question  as  to  whether  poultry 
does  or  does  not  pay,  but  as  to  how  much  it  is  going 


244      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

to  cost  to  learn.  The  more  I  study  the  matter,  the 
more  I  believe  that  this  covers  the  whole  field. 

A  man  who  is  now  having  the  best  of  success  with 
poultry  from  the  utility  side  only,  said,  in  my  hearing : 
"It  cost  me  a  lot  of  money  to  learn  that  hens  won't 
stand  dampness.  I  used  to  carry  out  dead  hens  by 
the  half-dozen  before  I  thought  I  could  afford  a  drain 
around  the  house.  Twenty  dollars'  worth  from  one 
house,  in  one  winter,  not  mentioning  the  loss  in  pos- 
sible eggs!"  This  twenty  dollars  represented  what  it 
cost  him  to  learn  that  fowls  will  not  endure  dampness. 
But  it  did  not  need  to  have  cost  him  anything  to  learn 
this  fundamental  fact.  He  simply  was  a  doubter,  who 
did  not  believe  what  he  read. 

My  institute  work  brought  me  one  night  to  talk 
with  a  woman  who  was  keen  to  know  about  brooders. 
She  was  a  bright,  intelligent  woman,  who  looked  as 
though  she  would  make  things  "go."  But  she  told 
me  that  she  had  hatched  five  hundred  chicks  the  last 
season,  more  than  half  of  which  were  lost.  At  a 
moderate  figure,  those  two  hundred  and  fifty  chicks 
had  cost  her,  before  they  died,  nearly  twenty  dollars. 
She  had  lost  the  possible  profit  of  fifty  dollars  or  more, 
had  cared  for  twenty-five  useless  sitters,  and  fussed 
with  two  hundred  and  fifty  chicks,  for  considerably  less 
than  nothing.  Nearly  seventy  dollars  and  her  work 
was  the  price  she  paid,  in  a  single  season,  to  learn  how 


EXPENSIVE   ACCIDENTS  245 

to  raise  chicks.  Did  it  not  cost  her  far  too  much  to 
learn?  Is  it  not  poor  policy  to  try  such  large  num- 
bers while  still  so  ignorant?  Why  not  learn  with  a 
smaller  number  ?  Whether  she  learned  much  or  little, 
the  cost  was  that  seventy  dollars.  With  a  reasonable 
number  to  practise  on,  fully  as  much  knowledge  would 
have  been  gained,  with  a  much  smaller  risk.  It  is 
even  possible  that  she  might  have  learned  more  with 
the  less  number,  as  there  might  have  been  fewer  com- 
plications to  throw  one  off  the  track  of  the  real  diffi- 
culty. Perhaps  she  could  pay  all  this  in  one  season 
as  "tuition,"  and  still  make  money.  Prices  would 
decide  that.  But  even  were  this  true,  too  much  was 
thrown  away  needlessly. 

It  is  by  no  means  women  alone  who  are  making  such 
errors.  During  the  same  trip  I  met  a  man  whose 
poultry  enterprise  had  been  twice  as  large,  and  who  had 
lost  over  five  hundred  chicks  during  the  season.  He  had 
probably  been  too  busy  about  other  affairs  to  do  the 
work  himself,  or  else  too  hurried  to  observe  closely, 
for  while  he  had  been  attributing  his  loss  to  thieves,  his 
shotes  were  eating  chickens  almost  under  his  eyes  and 
without  suspicion.  Is  it  not  pretty  safe  to  say  that  those 
who  are  quite  ignorant  of  the  work,  and  those  who  are 
too  busy  to  attend  to  it,  are  almost  sure  to  find  it  costing 
them  too  much  to  learn  ?  The  next  thing  is  a  conviction 
that  there  is  no  money  in  poultry. 


246      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

Perhaps  this  matter  will  work  itself  out  in  the  direction 
of  public  instruction  in  poultry  culture.  Experiment 
stations  are  taking  up  the  work  by  correspondence,  if 
not  more  thoroughly.  Students  have  been  seeking  in- 
struction in  actual  plants  now  in  operation,  only  to  find 
that  those  in  the  workaday  world  will  not  consent  to  be 
bothered  with  bunglers.  But  when  it  comes  to  a  ques- 
tion of  paying  hard  money  out  to  a  school  of  instruction, 
prospective  students  may  ask  themselves  whether  it  will 
not  be  just  as  well  to  pay  a  pretty  good  price  to  learn  in 
actual  work  in  their  own  yards  as  to  pay  the  same 
amount  to  a  school,  and  then  have  much  to  learn  after- 
ward. The  question  is  worth  consideration.  A  study 
of  it  will  go  far  toward  reconciling  the  learner  to  paying 
for  his  knowledge,  no  matter  where  gained,  and  will 
make  the  general  attitude  more  fair  to  poultry.  If  one 
would  go  into  the  work  reasonably,  possibly  the  school 
would  not  have  many  advantages  over  the  other  method 
of  training.  But  in  the  school  one  may  deal  with  large 
numbers  of  birds  without  taking  any  of  the  risk;  and 
when  such  men  as  the  president  of  the  American  Poultry 
Association  could  say  that  a  half  hour  in  one  of  the 
instruction  classes  made  clear  things  that  had  been 
problems  to  him  for  fifty  years,  the  fact  is  food  for  serious 
thought. 

It  has  often  been  urged  that  those  who  would  go  into 
poultry  work  on  a  large  scale  should  hire  out  to  some 


EXPENSIVE   ACCIDENTS  247 

successful  working-plant.  The  advice  is  good,  for  those 
who  have  neither  means  nor  practice  in  the  work,  if  it 
is  practicable.  It  is  not  practicable  for  a  woman,  for  the 
only  reason  which  could  induce  the  owners  of  such  a 
plant  to  take  on  green  help  would  be  the  chance  of  get- 
ting rough  work  out  of  them.  A  woman  would  have  to 
pay  for  her  practice  work,  even  if  she  could  get  in  at  all. 
I  know  of  one  large  plant  that  refused  to  take  a  woman 
who  almost  begged  for  the  chance  to  learn  there. 

The  great  point  is  to  avoid,  so  far  as  possible,  too 
heavy  cost  in  learning.  Often  this  can  best  be  done  by 
learning  where  some  one  else  takes  the  risks;  in  other 
words,  using  another's  brains  till  your  own  have  suffi- 
cient training  not  to  betray  you  into  blunders  which 
cost.  But,  if  you  must  learn  at  your  own  risk,  go  slow ; 
be  fair,  and,  if  you  have  to  suffer  losses,  take  them 
bravely,  as  a  part  of  the  necessary  course. 

What,  then,  shall  be  said  to  one  who,  like  the  in- 
quirer mentioned  at  the  outset,  has  much  to  learn,  and  is 
ill  fitted  to  take  risks  ?  Shall  we  tell  him  to  keep  out,  for 
his  friends  are  right  —  there  is  no  money  in  poultry? 
This  would  not  be  true,  without  qualification.  There 
may  be  none  for  him,  and  I  should  advise  him  either 
that  he  keep  out,  or,  if  he  insist  on  making  the  experi- 
ment, that  he  proceed  thus :  First,  make  up  his  mind  how 
much  he  can  afford  to  pay  to  learn;  then  invest  not 
more  than  half  of  this  at  first,  keeping  the  rest  for  con- 


248      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

tingent  uses,  and  never  spending,  besides,  more  than 
the  birds  themselves  furnish.  This  may  not  be  the 
most  profitable  method  of  procedure,  but  it  is  the  only 
safe  method,  where  all  the  factors  are  either  so  uncertain 
or  so  certainly  unfavorable  to  success. 


COMMON-SENSE   HANDLING   OF  COMMON 
DISEASES 

Germs   and   Parasites  —  Preventive  Foresight  —  Chicken-pox 
—  "Distempers"  —  Samples  of  Difficulties  Met  Frequently 

A  LARGE  proportion  of  the  diseases  of  fowls,  as  well  as 
those  of  human  beings,  are  a  result  of  the  conditions  in 
which  they  are  compelled  to  exist.  Some  of  these  con- 
ditions are  a  product  of  the  seasons  as  they  pass.  Sum- 
mer diseases,  like  diarrhoea,  sour  stomach  in  some  in- 
stances, and  lack  of  thrift,  with  no  apparent  cause,  are 
very  likely  to  be  due  to  the  combined  evils  of  excessive 
heat  and  lice,  and  lack  of  grit  or  of  water.  In  such  cases 
life  becomes  only  a  struggle  to  exist,  with  the  American 
hen,  as  with  all  others. 

The  fact  that  nearly  all  germs  and  nearly  all  parasites 
increase  more  rapidly  in  hot  weather  would  of  itself 
render  it  certain  that  we  should  have  more  disease 
among  our  birds  in  summer.  The  fact  that  most  out- 
door workers  are  busier  then  adds  to  the  probabilities  of 
neglect  and  increase  of  disease  through  this  cause,  and 
the  additional  fact  that  most  of  the  young  are  hatched 
at  this  period  but  emphasizes  the  probabilities  in  the 
same  direction.  It  is  perfectly  true  that  most  of  the 
summer  diseases  can  be  overcome  by  the  right  kind  of 
349 


250      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

care,  most  of  it  preventive.  But  the  fact  remains  that 
we  are  overwhelmed  by  the  very  diseases  which  we  might 
prevent.  And,  worse  than  all,  they  soon  reach  a  stage 
where  they  are  virtually  incurable.  The  white  diar- 
rhoeas, however  they  may  differ  in  character,  the  liver 
difficulties  (including  blackhead,  which  begins  in  the 
blind  pouches),  the  state  known  as  "going  light,"  the 
tumors  of  the  abdominal  region, — these  are  mostly 
summer  troubles,  and  they  are  largely  preventable  by 
sanitary  precautions,  and  largely  incurable  when  al- 
lowed to  get  a  hold.  They  are  also  helped  along  by 
heat,  lice,  and  lack  of  common  comforts.  It  may  seem 
strange  to  speak  of  tumors  as  summer  diseases;  but 
as  most  of  the  eggs  are  laid  during  the  warm  season,  and 
as  this  is  the  time  when  a  bird  "off"  in  any  way  is  easily 
gripped  by  disease,  it  comes  about  that  most  tumors 
become  fatal  in  summer,  no  matter  when  they  have 
dated  their  beginnings. 

Nervous  troubles  among  fowls,  too,  are  much  more 
frequent  in  summer  than  in  winter.  This  is  quite  in  ac- 
cord with  the  nature  of  things,  because  the  nervous  sys- 
tem is  in  a  more  lax  state  in  summer,  and  thus  more 
easily  subject  to  disturbances.  Even  the  puzzling  "lim- 
berneck"  is  now,  by  most  authorities,  ranked  as  a  ner- 
vous difficulty.  An  outbreak  may  have  a  definite  cause 
in  the  way  of  a  heat-stroke  or  a  bit  of  poisonous  food,  but 
the  effect  is  apparent  on  the  nervous  system. 


HANDLING   OF   COMMON   DISEASES      251 

We  shall  never  be  just  to  our  fowls,  nor  successful  in 
combating  the  wholesale  diseases  or  the  summer  dis- 
eases until  we  realize  that  we  must  provide  right  con- 
ditions. We  expect  to  provide  for  ourselves  and  for 
larger  stock;  we  expect  the  hen  to  rustle  for  herself. 
She  will  do  it  without  fail  if  we  will  provide  favorable 
conditions,  but  even  there  we  fail,  and  then  complain 
that  the  hen  is  a  nuisance.  In  all  these  troubles  which 
I  have  mentioned  it  is  just  as  well  to  recognize  the  fact 
that,  if  we  have  allowed  the  birds  to  come  under  the 
sway  of  these  diseases  by  neglecting  to  provide  the  right 
sanitary  conditions,  we  may  as  well  save  our  strength 
and  our  money,  as  far  as  trying  to  cure  them  is  concerned. 
In  the  busy  rush  of  farm  life  in  the  summer  season,  very 
few  of  us  can  depend  on  ourselves  to  do  all  that  may 
need  to  be  done  in  the  way  of  keeping  a  lookout,  making 
right  the  first  wrong  things  that  show  up,  taking  proper 
care  of  sick  specimens,  etc.  Our  only  hope  is  in  study- 
ing the  habits  and  necessities  of  the  fowls,  and  in  mak- 
ing provision  in  advance,  while  we  are  not  hurried,  for 
such  difficulties  as  might  be  expected  to  arise  when  we 
shall  be  in  the  midst  of  the  rush.  This  is  the  only 
rational  way  of  treating  summer  diseases. 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  there  is  no  use  of  doctor- 
ing fowls.  I  am,  however,  quite  willing  to  be  quoted  as 
saying  that  nearly  all  disease  comes  under  the  same  head, 
in  that  it  may  be  avoided  by  proper  advance  care.  There 


252      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

are  quite  a  number  of  diseases  of  domestic  fowls  that 
are  curable,  and  which  can  be  prevented  from  having 
permanent  ill  effects  of  the  worse  sort,  even  if  we  have 
been  slack  enough  to  let  them  get  a  hold. 

Scaly  leg  is  one  affection  easy  to  cure  if  one  will  give 
it  the  proper  care,  anointing  with  carbolic  salve  sys- 
tematically till  it  is  cured.  Yet  almost  every  poultry- 
yard  shows  cases  of  this  affection,  and  few  are  cured, 
simply  because  it  is  slow  of  development,  and  the 
life  of  a  hen  is  usually  cut  short  through  other  causes 
before  it  reaches  the  fatal  stage.  This  stage  it  may 
reach  if  neglected  long  enough. 

Gapes  is  preventable  by  not  raising  the  new  chicks  on 
affected  ground.  It  is  curable,  or  at  least  can  be  made 
tolerable  for  its  victims,  by  the  daily  use  of  strong  onion 
feeds,  which  are  wholesome  and  not  irritating  or  painful. 
Consequently,  this  is  the  most  reasonable  method  of 
treatment.  One  year  I  dosed  all  my  flocks  with  asafcet- 
ida,  having  read  that  it  would  take  the  place  of  onions. 
It  could  be  used  in  the  drinking  water,  and  was  cheap 
and  easy.  It  worked  well,  apparently,  for  a  while,  but 
soon  the  chicks  died  as  easily  as  the  drug  had  been 
fed.  I  was  young  then.  Now  I  prefer  prevention  to 
drugs,  any  day. 

Some  vent  inflammations,  even  when  they  appear  so 
bad  as  to  seem  necessarily  fatal,  yield  readily  to  disin- 
fecting ointments.  The  simplest  thing  for  me  has 


HANDLING   OF   COMMON   DISEASES      253 

proved  to  be  the  use  of  zenoleum  as  a  spray.  A  small 
spray-pump  is  kept  charged  with  it,  and  any  mange, 
external  inflammation,  fester,  attack  of  mites,  etc.,  is 
promptly  treated  to  a  spray  of  zenoleum.  It  takes  but 
a  fraction  of  time  and  is  very  effective,  and  is  especially 
good  when  there  is  any  ill-smelling  discharge.  It  is 
pretty  handy  stuff  to  have  on  hand  wherever  live  stock 
of  any  kind  is  kept.  It  is  recommended  also  for  scaly 
leg  in  fowls. 

Early  colds  may  be  routed  by  the  use  of  quinine  or  aco- 
nite in  doses  somewhat  less  than  one  would  give  a  young 
person,  and  soft,  swelled  head  can  be  routed  by  the  use 
of  kerosene  applications.  Sour  stomach  may  need  only 
a  little  soda,  just  as  a  child  with  nausea  might  take. 
Some  of  the  sickest-looking  chickens  I  have  ever  seen 
have  recovered  miraculously  on  being  dosed  with  a  bit 
of  soda.  But  it  is  quite  wise  to  keep  an  eye  on  a  bird 
that  has  acquired  the  habit  of  indigestion,  for  it  is  rather 
sure  to  develop  eventually  into  a  worthless  specimen, 
so  far  as  profits  are  concerned,  if  no  worse. 

Chicken-pox,  though  it  is  often  caused  by  filth  and 
dampness,  and  though  it  is  contagious,  may  be  usually 
overcome  by  the  use  of  ointments  containing  disinfect- 
ants. 

Possibly  there  is  no  common  disease  of  poultry  which 
is  as  little  known  among  Northern  and  Eastern  farmers, 
or  one  which  causes  as  much  puzzling  and  alarm,  as 


254      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

chicken-pox.  After  it  has  run  to  its  height,  it  is  both  dis- 
gusting and  dangerous  looking,  and  it  may  or  may  not 
be  as  dangerous  as  it  looks.  For  some  reason  not  fully 
understood,  it  seems  a  capricious  disease.  Poultry  may 
be  raised  on  a  farm  for  a  long  term  of  years  without 
a  sign  of  any  such  ailment,  when  all  at  once,  without 
introduction  of  any  outside  stock,  or  other  reason  easily 
apparent,  it  will  break  out  and  run  through  the  flock, 
sometimes  virulently. 

There  are,  however,  certain  seasons  and  certain  con- 
ditions which  chicken-pox  seems  so  to  prefer  that  those 
familiar  with  the  disease  usually  attribute  its  outbreaks 
to  these  conditions.  It  usually  appears  in  the  fall  of  the 
year,  and  often  when  the  young  birds  are  slightly  less 
than  normally  vigorous,  through  the  ordeal  of  feathering 
or  the  hardships  of  the  advancing  cold.  Yet  the  Gulf 
Coast  of  America  and  the  southern  countries  of  Europe 
have  far  more  frequent  and  fatal  attacks  of  it  than  those 
of  cooler  latitudes.  At  the  North,  poultry  raisers  are 
more  frequently  entirely  unfamiliar  with  it;  but  if  they 
are  acquainted  with  it,  they  are  often  very  indifferent  to 
its  presence  in  the  flocks.  I  once  went  through  the 
houses  of  a  large  poultry  raiser  in  Massachusetts,  where 
birds  affected  with  this  unsightly,  infectious,  and  often 
fatal  disease  were  running  freely  in  the  pens  with  many 
others  not  affected.  Yet  the  owner  was  fully  aware  of 
the  character  of  the  affection,  and  seemed  to  have  little 
fear  of  its  spreading. 


HANDLING   OF   COMMON   DISEASES      255 

Fowls  which  die  from  this  disease  at  the  North  are 
very  apt  to  have  contracted  with  it  some  form  of  canker- 
ous roup.  Often  they  become  blind  in  one  eye,  or  both 
eyes,  by  their  closure.  They  can  eat  little,  if  at  all,  and 
weakness  supervenes,  followed  by  almost  certain  death. 

At  one  time  this  disease  was  considered  to  be  simply 
a  form  of  varioloid.  Those  who  have  seen  the  latter, 
or  smallpox,  or  who  remember  the  ugly  scabbing  con- 
nected with  vaccination,  should  have  little  trouble  in 
recognizing  the  chicken-pox  in  fowls.  The  yellow 
scabs,  often  foul  when  discharging,  are  generally  found  at 
first  about  the  head.  But  they  sometimes  attack  other 
portions  of  the  body,  especially  the  under  side  of  wings, 
and  it  may  be  the  inner  surface  of  the  legs.  A  child 
would  probably  call  the  nodules  on  comb,  wattles,  etc., 
"  warts,"  at  first.  Later,  after  they  break  and  discharge, 
they  become  confluent  scabs.  Pigeons  and  young 
chickens  are  particularly  susceptible.  It  is  said  to  at- 
tack a  large  proportion  of  these  at  the  South,  causing 
much  damage  and  many  deaths  unless  early  and  vigor- 
ously treated.  A  peculiarity  is  that  these  raised  scabs 
often  appear  on  the  horny  bill  itself. 

Any  one  who  is  not  sufficiently  afraid  of  it  to  be  in- 
duced thereby  to  give  the  disease  proper  treatment, 
should  familiarize  himself  with  it  under  another  of  its 
names,  viz.  a  "  blastomycetes  fungus."  Perhaps  this 
will  scare  him  into  doing  his  utmost  duty  to  his  birds ! 


256      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

Dampness  and  filth  are  believed  to  be  at  least  con- 
tributory, if  not  producing,  causes  of  this  filthy  disease. 
The  germs  need  moisture  in  which  to  grow.  Looking 
at  it  from  all  points,  common  sense  insists  that  sanitary 
treatment  is  especially  indicated.  Disinfective  oint- 
ments are  recommended,  what  is  handiest  being  the 
best,  because  it  can  be  most  quickly  used.  A  good 
cleaning  up,  a  rigid  quarantine  of  the  sick,  and  a  close 
watch  for  new  cases  will  often  stamp  it  out  very  quickly. 
Iodine  is  a  good  application  for  the  sores,  but  harsh. 
Probably  the  majority  of  those  familiar  with  the  affec- 
tion use  carbolated  vaseline,  as  carbolic  acid  and  vase- 
line are  almost  always  at  hand,  and  can  be  combined  to 
form  this  ointment.  One  part  carbolic  acid  to  twenty 
parts  of  soft  soap  is  recommended.  In  this  case,  warn- 
ing is  given  not  to  cover  a  very  large  area  at  once,  as 
the  absorption  of  the  acid  might  cause  poisoning.  Car- 
bolic acid  solution  and  lime  washes  are  effective  for 
disinfecting  houses  and  runs.  With  due  regard  to 
their  poisonous  character,  almost  all  the  washes  used  for 
roup  may  prove  effective  with  chicken-pox,  because  both 
are  treated  from  the  standpoint  of  disinfection.  At  the 
North  many  find  simple  vaseline  applications  to  the 
sores  to  be  effective.  Perhaps  this  is  on  the  principle 
which  physicians  now  follow  in  treatment  of  many 
eruptive  diseases,  such  as  scarlet  fever,  that  oily  applica- 
tions prevent  the  scabs  from  scaling  off  into  the  air  as 


HANDLING   OF   COMMON   DISEASES      257 

dry,  fine  particles,  which  contaminate  wherever  they 
go.  Drinking  and  feed  vessels  should  be  scalded  well 
each  day  while  the  attack  persists. 

There  are  a  good  many  inquiries  about  "distempers," 
so  called. 

The  word  "distemper"  really  means  disease.  It 
is  applied  chiefly  to  animal  diseases  or  any  morbid  state 
of  the  animal  body.  But  as  I  understand  the  use  of 
the  word  among  the  people  at  large,  it  carries  the  idea 
of  some  general,  supposedly  infectious  or  epidemic, 
trouble.  In  short,  the  word  may  have  almost  any 
meaning  that  includes  disease,  and  I  have  used  it  chiefly 
to  avoid  using  the  word  "roup."  Roup  proper,  to  my 
mind,  means  a  virulent  form  of  cold,  which  is  also  infec- 
tious, and  the  word  is  often  loosely  used  when  a  simple 
cold  is  the  only  difficulty. 

People  wonder  what  can  be  the  cause  of  so  much  cold 
and  disease  of  the  head,  throat,  and  bronchial  organs 
in  poultry.  There  is  often  a  predisposing  cause  within 
the  bird  which  is  not  much  recognized.  I  refer  to  the 
growth  moult  of  young  stock  and  the  annual  moult  of 
the  older  birds.  It  is  the  simplest  thing  in  the  world, — 
in  short,  the  bird  loses  so  much  plumage  that  it  suffers 
from  the  weather;  it  cannot  keep  warm.  Almost 
twenty  years  ago  Mr.  Felch  called  attention  to  a  "dis- 
temper "  that  was  sure  to  attack  young  stock  at  four  or 
five  months  old,  according  to  the  breed,  when  changing 


258      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

feathers.  This,  he  stated,  was  as  sure  to  come  as 
measles  in  children,  and  needed  only  a  little  bromide 
of  potassium  in  the  drinking  water  for  a  fortnight  every 
other  day  to  cure  the  difficulty  "and  ward  off  the  roup." 

If  chicks  reach  the  age  when  they  assume  adult 
feathers  during  warm  weather,  they  will  probably  not 
be  noticeably  sick.  But  the  great  proportion  of  the 
young  stock  of  the  country  is  hatched  late,  and  comes 
to  this  moult  at  the  most  trying  season  of  the  year,  when 
the  cold  fall  winds  begin  to  blow.  The  later  part  of 
the  season  is  pretty  sure  to  be  the  season  of  neglect,  as 
the  poultry  raiser  feels  that  the  chicks  are  at  last  big 
enough  to  care  for  themselves,  and  off  his  hands. 

Every  one  knows  that  the  way  to  consumption  and 
pneumonia  is  opened  for  mankind  by  a  neglected  cold, 
"not  worth  mentioning,"  perhaps,  at  the  first.  Admit- 
ting that  poultry  are  especially  subject  to  diseases  of 
the  head  and  lungs,  is  it  not  to  be  expected  that  a  little 
neglect,  the  conditions  remaining  the  same,  will  soon 
cause  a  simple  cold  to  become  a  fatal  bronchial  disease  ? 

These  colds,  or  distempers,  take  myriad  forms, 
which  pass  from  simple  to  dangerous  so  insensibly  that 
no  one  can  tell  where  the  line  is.  There  is  just  a  froth- 
ing at  the  eye  and  a  whitened  tongue ;  there  is  a  swelling 
of  the  face  about  the  eye  on  one  side  or  on  both ;  there 
is  stoppage  of  the  nostrils  with  gummy  mucus;  there 
is  rattling  stoppage  in  the  bronchial  tubes;  there  is  the 


HANDLING   OF   COMMON   DISEASES         259 

dreaded  canker,  usually  considered  the  worst  form  of 
roup. 

The  almost  universal  failure  in  the  treatment  of 
these  forms  of  throat  and  head  distemper  is  due  to  just 
one  thing,  viz.,  the  birds  remain  in  the  ill  conditions 
during  treatment.  Instead  of  being  removed  without 
delay  to  a  house  where  dampness  and  wind  cannot  reach 
them,  and  which  is  reasonably  warm  and  well  venti- 
lated, they  are  left  under  the  conditions  that  brought 
on  the  affection.  This  is  the  one  great  reason  for  the 
failure  of  the  patent  roup  cures  and  the  never-fails 
given  the  owners  by  their  next  of  kin  and  best  friends. 
Nearly  every  one  of  these  is  good,  provided  the  fowl  is 
given  a  chance  for  its  life  by  favoring  it  as  to  conditions. 
It  is  hardly  judicious  to  place  it  in  much  artificial  heat, 
as  this  tends  to  make  it  sensitive,  and  there  will  be 
trouble  when  it  must  return  to  the  cold  house. 

Next  is  the  question  of  medicines.  One  of  the  best 
poultrymen  of  the  country  has  made  the  statement  that 
about  all  we  can  afford  to  do  is  to  see  that  fowl  patients 
are  removed  to  dry  and  airy  quarters,  unless  they  are 
unusually  valuable  (as  fancy  or  show  birds),  and  that 
"doctoring  poultry  with  infallible  cures  for  roup  and 
other  numerous  complaints  is  time  and  money  wasted." 
This  in  the  face  of  the  fact  that  the  better  poultry  papers 
carry  departments  for  veterinary  advice  handled  by 
genuine  medical  practitioners. 


260      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

The  first  question  I  ask  regarding  any  medicine  rec- 
ommended is  whether  or  not  it  can  be  used  in  the  drink- 
ing water;  if  not,  I  look  for  something  better.  But 
canker  will  seldom  yield  without  direct  applications  to 
the  morbid  growth.  Moreover,  I  have  never  yet  seen 
any  medicine  that  will  kill  the  canker  that  will  not  also 
hurt  the  birds'  mouths.  They  resist  its  application,  and 
one  must  be  cruel  to  be  kind.  Kerosene  is  a  good 
application  for  swelled  head,  but  I  prefer  carbolized 
vaseline,  with  enough  tincture  of  iron  well  stirred  in  to 
color  it  a  little.  This  must  not  be  allowed  to  enter  the 
eye  socket.  Dr.  Salmon,  the  Government  specialist, 
who  has  written  a  book  on  poultry  diseases,  recommends 
that  bad  collections  of  pus  about  the  eyes  be  opened 
with  a  sharp  knife,  the  opening  being  washed  out  with 
disinfectant,  or  the  wounds  filled  with  disinfectant 
powder. 

Recently  I  heard  a  man  say  that  the  locality  near 
Jersey  City  was  the  worst  for  roup  of  any  in  his  acquaint- 
ance. If  there  was  ground  for  his  opinion,  it  probably 
lay  in  the  excess  of  strong  winds  which  sweep  down 
from  the  heights,  and  often  in  from  the  coast.  On 
every  poultry-farm  where  roup  is  a  frequent  visitor 
one  should  write  in  very  large  letters  over  the  doors  of 
the  houses,  "Look  out  for  draughts." 

A  promising  new  poultry-house  was  built  of  un- 
matched hemlock  and  covered,  both  sides  and  roof,  with 


HANDLING   OF   COMMON   DISEASES        261 

tarred  felt.  The  builder  took  great  pains  to  nail  the 
roof  boards  down  tightly,  and  flattered  himself  that  for 
once  his  birds  were  well  housed.  But  in  ten  days  all 
the  young  stock  developed  distemper.  It  was  found 
that  the  roof  boards  had  already  warped  away  from 
the  siding,  and,  as  the  roof  was  built  to  overhang,  the 
covering  paper  could  not  easily  follow  up  over  the 
cracks  between  roof  and  side.  The  roof  boards  had 
also  shrunk,  so  that  a  finger  might  be  laid  between 
them  in  places.  Here  were  the  precious  pullets  sleep- 
ing with  a  separate  draught  playing  over  them  from 
every  crack.  The  plate  crack  was  then  filled  with  tar, 
and  every  roof  crack  filled  with  tissue  paper  calked  in 
—  and  still  it  leaked  wind.  Finally,  to  overcome  the 
defect,  the  house  was  lined  also  with  tarred  felt  above 
the  roosts.  Such  is  the  care  needed  to  make  sure  of 
keeping  out  the  draughts. 

One  who  has  been  having  a  few  cases  of  swelled  head 
in  a  flock  of  three  hundred  birds  said  to  me :  "  We  used 
to  get  lots  of  eggs,  and  we  never  had  a  sick  bird;  the 
hens  roosted  in  the  trees,  and  we  never  took  any  thought 
of  them  except  to  throw  out  a  little  corn  occasionally." 
"Then,  if  you  really  believe  that  to  be  the  better  way, 
I  advise  you  to  get  back  to  that  way  of  handling  the  fowls 
as  soon  as  possible,"  was  my  reply.  The  mild  grumbler 
laughed:  "I'm  not  sure  that  I  do  really  believe  it," 
came  the  answer.  Many  another  has  occupied  the  same 


262      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

critical  attitude  toward  modern  poultry  keeping  and 
housing;  yet  I  do  not  find  those  who  are  willing  to  go 
back  to  the  "survival  of  the  fittest"  plan,  notwithstand- 
ing it  has  some  things  to  recommend  it.  There  are  few 
methods  of  which  something  good  may  not  be  said; 
our  problem  in  the  twentieth  century  is  to  find  the  plan 
of  which  only  good  may  be  said.  But  we  have  not 
arrived. 

A  few  of  the  letters  which  have  come  to  me,  with  the 
replies,  may  serve  not  only  to  show  the  helplessness  of 
many  poultry  keepers  in  the  presence  of  disease,  but 
may  give  an  idea  of  the  commoner  difficulties,  and  voice 
a  warning. 

"I  am  in  trouble  and  want  a  little  help.  Last  fall  I  bought 
ten  pullets  and  a  rooster  of  the  Asiatic  breed,  with  feathers  all 
down  to  their  feet.  The  man  I  got  them  of  fed  all  corn  and  as 
much  as  they  would  eat,  and  they  were  as  f5t  as  butter.  He 
told  me  to  do  the  same.  January  i  my  rooster  dropped  dead 
in  his  tracks,  weighing  fifteen  pounds  —  apoplexy,  I  suppose,  as 
we  have  no  lice,  no  mice,  no  rats,  no  minks  ;  nothing  of  that 
kind.  The  next  I  noticed  my  chicks  commenced  to  call  'pip' 
when  I  fed  mashed  feed.  Then  some  commenced  to  wheeze 
and  rattle  in  their  throats,  so  I  sent  for  a  roup  cure  and  I  took 
fat  meat  and  rolled  it  in  black  pepper  and  put  that  down  my 
affected  hens  and  kept  them  isolated  for  a  few  days,  and  they 
got  better.  I  got  buckwheat,  oats,  and  cracked  corn  and  mixed 
it  and  fed  that  as  a  scratch  food,  and  I  boiled  potatoes,  apples, 
cabbage,  and  meat  scraps  (pork),  and  mixed  it  with  chop  and  cut 
alfalfa.  I  also  got  a  bone-cutter  and  cut  up  bone,  and  fed  that. 


HANDLING   OF   COMMON  DISEASES      263 

I  give  them  raw  cabbage,  raw  apples,  crystal  grit  and  oyster- 
shells;  also  a  patent  poultry-food.  I  keep  the  coop  clean  and 
have  a  large  dust-bath  for  them  ;  and  I  got  twenty-six  eggs  in 
December,  eighty-four  in  January,  one  hundred  and  thirty-two 
in  February  ;  but  now  I  am  coming  to  the  trouble  that  I  can't 
overcome.  Every  now  and  then  one  seems  to  lose  power  in  the 
legs  for  a  day  or  so,  and  then  come  all  right  again.  Some  — 
most  all  —  have  loose  bowels,  so  that  they  are  soiled  all  the  time. 
What  can  I  do  to  stop  that  ?" 

Reply :  The  conditions  here  noted  form  a  clear  object- 
lesson,  showing  the  truth  of  a  statement  which  I  have 
made  more  than  once,  that  one  must  have  some  expe- 
rience to  found  judgment  on  before  he  can  be  sure  of 
exercising  good  judgment.  The  trouble  with  these 
hens  comes  chiefly,  if  not  wholly,  from  lack  of  good 
judgment  in  feeding. 

When  you  found  out  that  the  corn  was  too  fattening, 
you  were  on  the  way  to  better  handling,  but  the  potatoes, 
green  bone,  the  prepared  food,  pork  scrap,  etc.,  have 
been  a  snare  to  you,  for  some  of  these  are  as  fattening 
as  corn,  and  some  of  them  are  very  forcing.  You  have 
simply  overdone  the  whole  matter.  It  is  no  wonder 
the  rooster  died,  for,  strange  as  it  may  seem  at  the  first, 
it  is  more  difficult  to  feed  a  cock  than  it  is  his  mates. 
The  hens  always  have  an  outlet  for  their  surplus  in  egg 
production,  but  in  the  off  season  the  males  simply  store 
up  fat  or  tend  to  liver  troubles,  and  often  impotency,  if 
overfed.  The  word  "overfeeding"  does  not  always 


264      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

mean  feeding  too  much ;  it  may  mean  feeding  too  much 
fat  for  the  rest  of  the  feed,  or  too  much  of  the  forcing 
elements.  You  had  fat  hens  to  begin  with,  and  corn 
as  part  of  the  ration.  Then  you  added  potatoes  — 
another  fattener  —  and  pork  scraps,  which  were 
"worse  and  worse  and  more  of  it,"  as  we  used  to  say 
when  we  were  children.  Buckwheat  is  a  good  grain 
to  feed  with  corn,  on  account  of  the  fibre  and  the  muscle 
makers  in  it.  A  little  green  bone  added  to  your  grain 
ration  and  the  alfalfa  and  cabbage,  etc.,  would  have 
made  an  ideal  ration,  but  when  you  added  pepper  and 
pork  scraps,  and  the  prepared  food,  or  any  other  stimu- 
lating feed,  you  were  running  the  risk  of  losing  your 
hens  by  what  might  rather  be  called  overdosing  than 
overfeeding. 

The  simple  feeds  you  have  used  are  all  first-rate, 
only  that  they  were  so  combined  as  to  be  both  too 
fattening  and  too  stimulating.  The  grit,  alfalfa,  and 
green  feed  have  probably  saved  you  the  hens.  One 
has  to  be  a  little  more  careful  in  feeding  Asiatics,  es- 
pecially with  fattening  things,  since  their  tendency  is 
to  lay  on  fat,  and  they  are  slow  in  temperament,  in- 
clined to  laziness.  It  is  quite  possible  that  the  touch 
of  roup  was  also  due  to  the  overfat  state  of  the  birds, 
for  excess  of  fat  diminishes  resisting  power  and  also 
tends  to  difficulties  of  breathing.  I  do  not  think 
Asiatics  are  much  subject  to  roup  when  kept  in  robust 


HANDLING   OF   COMMON   DISEASES      265 

condition.  All  who  aim  to  succeed  with  hens  need  to 
learn  to  handle  the  birds  often  enough  to  know  at 
least  the  average  condition  of  the  flock.  Hens  need  to 
be  in  good  flesh  and  fairly  fat  always.  The  smaller 
breeds  will  grow  thin  during  the  heavy  laying  season 
unless  some  effort  is  made  to  keep  them  in  proper  con- 
dition. And,  with  fair  treatment,  it  is  only  in  the 
interim  between  finishing  the  moult  and  beginning  to 
lay  that  there  is  serious  danger  of  the  females  getting 
too  fat.  Neither  will  they  lay  till  they  are  fat  enough. 
It  is,  then,  plainly  a  matter  which  requires  good  judg- 
ment to  keep  fowls  fat  enough  without  getting  them 
too  fat  at  certain  seasons.  The  Asiatics  require  a 
goodly  amount  of  average  feed,  and  to  this  one  must 
add  fat  makers  or  egg  makers  as  the  season  and  the 
condition  of  the  birds  indicate.  Nor  will  it  do  to 
examine  one  bird  and  decide  from  this,  as  some  birds 
take  on  fat  more  easily  than  others.  Good  digestion 
and  good  appetite  are  the  key  to  the  matter,  and  these 
are  always  to  be  watched,  as  affording  the  ground  for 
judgment  as  to  needed  feed. 

The  diarrhoea  is  plainly  caused  by  the  feeding.  It 
may  be  that  you  have  used  too  much  green  bone; 
from  half  an  ounce  to  one  ounce  a  hen  is  the  usual 
allowance.  This  is  generally  given  only  three  times  a 
week.  Potatoes  and  green  food  have  a  tendency  to 
cause  looseness,  and  fats  are  given  to  the  human  family 


266      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

as  laxative  medicine,  oftentimes.  If  you  want  a  feed- 
ing basis  that  will  often  be  of  help,  consider  how  the 
things  you  use,  or  their  equivalents,  would  affect  human 
beings.  These  will  not  always  apply,  but  will  apply 
often  enough  to  be  a  real  help.  Don't  be  one  bit  dis- 
couraged; you  are  on  the  right  track;  it  is  always 
more  difficult  to  handle  a  few  hens,  as  to  feed,  than  a 
larger  number.  But  it  can  always  be  learned,  and  you 
are  getting  your  experience  as  you  go  along. 

You  can  cut  out  the  mash  for  two  weeks,  and  soon 
get  rid  of  the  diarrhoea,  probably.  It  may  affect  the 
egg  yield  a  little.  Drop  the  patent  feed,  which  is 
highly  stimulating,  and  also  the  fat  meat  scraps.  The 
scraps  would  do  to  feed  lean  Leghorns,  but  will  not  do 
for  fat  Asiatics.  Too  much  green  bone  causes  diarrhoea, 
and  you  need  to  watch  carefully  that  you  do  not  use 
too  much.  As  you  have  had  a  bone-cutter  and  so 
few  hens,  you  would  be  likely  to  give  too  much,  or  else 
keep  it  stored  till  it  was  tainted.  I  don't  say  you  have 
done  this,  but  it  would  be  a  tendency  of  human  nature ; 
and  I  speak  of  it  as  a  warning  to  you  and  to  others 
who  have  only  a  few  birds.  Those  who  have  large 
numbers  have  to  scrabble  so  hard  to  pay  their  feed 
bills  in  winter  that  they  are  tempted  to  scnmp  rather 
than  to  be  overliberal. 

If  you  have  now  a  cock  with  the  hens,  it  is  quite 
likely  that  the  temporary  inability  to  move  about  is 


HANDLING   OF   COMMON   DISEASES      267 

due  to  his  attentions.  Or  it  might  be  difficulty  in  lay- 
ing, or  possibly  rheumatism.  The  first  is  the  more 
common  cause  of  temporary  difficulty  like  this  at  this 
season  of  the  year.  I  have  known  a  hen  to  be  per- 
manently lamed  in  this  way,  but  the  difficulty  usually 
lasts  only  a  day  or  so,  often  only  an  hour.  Rheuma- 
tism is  more  apt  to  continue  for  quite  a  long  period. 

"We  have  some  White  Leghorn  hens  that  have  been  laying 
since  January,  and  lately  four  have  had  trouble  discharging  their 
eggs,  as  I  have  found  them  with  the  egg  out  of  the  body,  but  not 
out  of  the  passage.  These  hens  or  pullets  were  hatched  last 
April.  As  I  use  a  trap-nest,  I  know  that  these  are  not  their  first 
eggs.  I  also  have  some  cockerels  that  have  sores  on  their  combs. 
The  sores  are  dry,  sink  in  a  little,  and  look  as  if  they  were  covered 
with  a  little  of  the  yolk  of  an  egg,  but  it  is  not,  as  they  have  been 
kept  alone.  Please  give  me  some  information  in  regard  to 
them." 

Reply:  Either  of  these  troubles  is  liable  to  appear 
at  any  time  in  any  poultry-yard  where  the  conditions 
are  favorable.  Hence  it  is  well  for  all  to  be  informed 
on  these  subjects.  I  hope  your  questions  may  lead  to 
helping  others,  as  you  have  been  helped  by  the  an- 
swers to  theirs.  The  first  trouble  you  mention  is 
known  as  prolapsus,  or  eversion,  of  the  oviduct.  The 
cause  is  always  weakness,  or  inflammation  of  the  egg 
organs,  especially ;  no  doubt,  in  this  case,  the  duct  that 
carries  the  egg  to  the  surface  of  the  body.  In  order 
that  the  egg  shall  move  without  carrying  the  duct  with 


268      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

it  because  of  the  friction,  there  must  be  an  abundance 
of  mucus,  and  the  muscles  which  do  the  work  must 
be  strong  and  in  perfect  condition.  Good  muscles  are 
made  by  good  food  and  exercise,  so  it  follows  that  to 
furnish  plenty  of  scratching  material  to  birds  in  con- 
finement is  a  practical  means  of  forestalling  such  an 
evil  as  prolapsus.  It  is  well  to  consider  that  there  are 
good  reasons  back  of  most  of  the  methods  generally 
advocated,  and  one  who  is  not  posted  should  follow 
carefully  the  recommendations  of  older  workers,  even 
if  he  does  not  know  the  reasons  therefor.  But  I  al- 
ways take  especial  pains  to  give  reasons,  because  nine 
persons  out  of  ten  will  follow  directions  more  carefully 
if  they  know  the  reasons  back  of  them,  and  they  are, 
of  course,  more  intelligent  in  doing  it  —  in  other  words, 
it  helps  their  judgment. 

I  have  given  a  reason  for  prolapsus;  yet  the  aver- 
age person  will  be  still  in  the  dark  if  I  do  not  give 
reasons  back  of  reasons.  That  is,  we  need  to  know 
what  may  cause  weakness,  dryness,  etc.,  of  the  egg 
duct.  Inflammation  is  the  chief  cause,  and  inflam- 
mation is,  perhaps,  most  likely  to  be  due  to  the  male 
bird,  or  to  constipation,  unless  the  hen  lays  an  abnor- 
mally large  egg.  Beware  of  mating  a  large  male  with 
small  hens ;  feed  so  that  the  fowls  shall  not  be  troubled 
with  constipation,  and  you  will  not  be  likely  to  have 
very  much  trouble  along  this  line.  For  the  same 


HANDLING   OF   COMMON   DISEASES      269 

reasons  it  is  desirable  that  the  pullets  approaching  ma- 
turity shall  not  be  annoyed  by  a  lot  of  young  cockerels ; 
hence,  the  oft-repeated  recommendation  to  separate  the 
sexes  after  the  first  six  weeks.  Doubtless  the  majority 
of  poultry  raisers  do  not  do  it,  and  many  of  them  may 
think  it  is  nonsense,  but  all  these  lay  themselves  open 
to  having  just  such  difficulties  as  yours  in  their  poultry- 
yards.  Troubles  may  come  from  forcing  too  hard  for 
eggs,  using  too  much  meat  and  other  stimulating  stuff. 
Some  have  even  used  ergot  and  cantharides ;  then  have 
run  to  the  hen  doctor  to  know  why  their  birds  should 
be  in  trouble.  Do  let  us  all  use  common  sense  when 
we  handle  living  animals,  and,  if  we  have  not  other 
information,  base  our  judgment,  to  a  degree,  on  the 
fact  that  man,  too,  is  an  animal. 

Though  there  is  more  than  one  disease  with  some- 
what similar  manifestations  to  those  you  mention,  I 
think  the  other  trouble  is  almost  sure  to  be  chicken- 
pox.  It  is  contagious,  sometimes  very  mildly,  some- 
times quite  virulently.  So  it  is  better  to  quarantine 
and  to  disinfect.  Carbolic  ointment  is  an  excellent 
treatment,  with  previous  washing  with  strong  soap- 
suds, if  you  are  willing  to  take  that  trouble. 

"  Kindly  tell  me  what  is  the  matter  with  a  hen  of  mine  ?  She 
is  a  Barred  Plymouth  Rock,  full  bred.  I  have  sixty  of  them, 
and  all  are  healthy  but  this  one.  They  have  a  free  run.  I  feed 
mostly  on  corn,  bran,  and  oats.  When  I  noticed  her  first,  she 


270      HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

acted  strangely.  She  would  start  and  run  round  and  round  until 
she  would  fall,  and  she  actually  laid  an  egg  lying  on  her  back. 
When  she  gets  over  her  fit,  she  sits  all  drooped  looking  and  doesn't 
go  up  on  the  roost.  I  notice  her  droppings  are  green,  mixed 
with  a  white  sort  of  stuff." 

Reply:  It  is,  in  one  sense,  idle  to  speculate  as  to 
the  exact  cause  of  any  peculiar  difficulty  of  this  type 
which  affects  a  single  individual  of  a  flock.  It  is  pos- 
sible that  no  one  could  correctly  diagnose  such  an  indi- 
vidual case;  but  I  think  it  can  safely  be  said  that  the 
affection  is  a  nervous  one.  And  it  may  be  possible  to 
gain  a  little  insight  that  will  help  at  least  to  recognize 
such  affections,  and  not  to  be  unduly  alarmed  concern- 
ing them.  The  fact  that  the  rest  of  the  flock  are  all 
right  shows  that  this  is  an  individual  affair,  and  that 
conditions  of  care,  feed,  etc.,  are  probably  normal.  It 
is  the  hen  that  is  abnormal  in  some  way.  Then  the 
question  arises :  Is  the  difficulty  from  without  or  from 
within  ? 

So  far  as  my  experience  with  these  cases  goes,  it 
indicates  that  they  are  usually  brought  on  either  by 
excessive  heat  or  by  accidents,  when  from  without, 
and  from  some  digestive  abnormality  when  from 
within. 

Poison,  or  something  excessively  irritating  to  the 
digestive  organs,  might  induce  peculiar  behavior  re- 
sembling what  you  speak  of  as  a  fit.  The  disease  called 


HANDLING    OF   COMMON   DISEASES      271 

"limberneck,"  in  which  the  affected  bird  is  unable  to 
control  the  head,  which  droops  to  the  ground,  is  said 
by  many  who  have  had  large  experience  with  it  to  be 
the  result  of  stomach  irritation  brought  on  by  eating 
maggots.  I  have  seen  isolated  cases  in  which  I  thought 
it  had  been  brought  on  by  excessive  heat.  But  this, 
of  course,  I  could  hardly  prove. 

An  unsuspected  cause  may  lie  in  the  common  acci- 
dents of  the  chicken  yard.  A  case  of  exaggerated 
"limberneck"  which  we  lately  had  will  show  this. 
Two  surplus  males  were  confined  in  adjoining  coops, 
built  in  a  series,  so  that  two  coops  had  only  a  partition 
between.  One  of  these  birds  was  a  late-hatched  Wyan- 
dotte,  quiet,  not  overvigorous,  and  not  a  bird  that  one 
would  suspect  of  causing  trouble  in  the  hen  yards. 
The  other  was  one  of  the  "watch  me"  kind,  full  to 
overflowing  of  life  and  vigor,  early  hatched,  a  Leg- 
horn, a  little  of  the  Game  type,  a  bird  that  had  whipped 
everything  in  sight  for  several  months  just  for  the  sake 
of  having  it  well  understood  that  he  was  boss.  In 
some  way  the  light  partition  between  the  coops  was 
broken  and  these  two  birds  got  together.  When  found, 
the  meek  Wyandotte  was  just  comfortably  bloody ;  the 
fighter  the  worst-whipped  bird  I  ever  saw,  with  his 
body  out  of  control,  carriage  almost  perpendicular, 
and  head  thrown  backward.  By  desperate  effort,  after 
some  hours,  he  got  his  head  down,  and  for  two  or 


272       HOW  TO   KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

three  days  it  hung  limp  to  the  ground.  The  bird 
could  not  eat  or  drink,  and  was  entirely  helpless  as  to 
his  head  and  neck.  Had  we  not  known  of  the  fight 
and  the  character  of  the  two  birds,  the  situation  would 
have  been  inexplicable.  But  this  gave  the  key.  I 
have  no  doubt  that  the  Wyandotte  got  in  a  good 
strong  blow  somewhere  on  the  spinal  column  of  his 
enemy  and  put  him  out  of  the  fight  at  once.  For 
about  four  days  I  thought  he  could  not  recover,  and 
for  nearly  three  weeks  he  showed  some  lack  of  bodily 
control. 

Some  one  might  throw  a  stone  and  hit  one  bird  in 
a  way  to  bring  on  such  an  affection.  I  have  seen  a 
four-months'  chick  get  a  broken  leg  just  through  a 
clod  tossed  carelessly  to  scare  him  away  from  mischief. 
We  have  even  had  a  new-hatched  chick  brought  in 
which  had  some  sort  of  a  "fit"  every  few  minutes.  I 
think  this  was  abnormal  when  hatched.  A  very  faith- 
ful sitter  suddenly  left  her  eggs.  After  a  day  or  two 
it  was  discovered  that  she  had  lost  partial  control  of 
her  head;  but  instead  of  circling  around  she  would 
make  erratic  dives  with  her  head,  first  in  one  direc- 
tion, then  in  another.  Such  affections  frighten  the 
birds  themselves  and  make  them  fear  everything  that 
comes  near  them.  I  could  find  no  cause  for  this 
trouble  unless  it  lay  in  the  fact  that  she  had  been  let 
out  after  being  confined  for  some  weeks  in  a  building, 


HANDLING   OF   COMMON   DISEASES      273 

and  it  chanced  that  the  first  day  she  was  out  was  an 
exceedingly  hot  one. 

At  one  time  we  had  a  hen  which  behaved  exactly 
the  same  as  the  one  just  noted.  Of  the  cause  I  never 
had  the  least  inkling.  She  improved  after  a  little,  but 
in  the  subsequent  two  years  that  we  kept  her  she  would 
always  have  a  temporary  attack  if  frightened  or  taken 
by  surprise,  this  showing  plainly  enough  that  the  diffi- 
culty was  purely  nervous.  I  suspect  that  the  Leghorns 
may  be  a  trifle  more  inclined  to  such  troubles  than 
the  heavier,  more  phlegmatic  breeds. 

These  cases  are  interesting  to  study,  but  it  is  scarcely 
likely  that  all  our  study  will  hinder  an  occasional 
abnormality  among  our  flocks.  It  may  be  said,  I 
suppose,  that  perfect  physical  condition  is  the  best 
safeguard. 

"I  would  like  your  opinion  of  a  disease  my  young  chickens 
have  been  troubled  with.  My  breed  is  Silver Hamburgs.  They 
seem  bright  and  hardy  for  the  first  five  or  six  weeks,  then  they 
droop  their  wings.  They  have  looseness  of  the  bowels,  and  in  a 
week  or  so  die.  During  the  sickness  their  appetite  remains  about 
normal.  Their  feed  has  been  chiefly  cracked  wheat.  They  had 
plenty  of  grit  and  were  free  from  lice.  It  has  been  the  same 
with  both  hen  and  brooder  chicks.  Will  you  kindly  give  cause 
and  remedy  ?" 

Reply:  It  is  never  safe  to  feed  any  little  chicks 
which  belong  to  the  early  feathering  classes  on  a  diet 


274      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

of  one  grain  only.  Of  course,  cracked  wheat  is  an 
excellent  feed,  and  wheat  is  perhaps  nearest  to  a  com- 
plete feed  of  any  single  grain,  but  the  chicks  need  more 
than  this.  If  you  will  listen  to  the  wisdom  of  a  poultry 
raiser  of  fifty  years'  standing  regarding  the  hardships 
of  feathering,  you  will  see,  I  think,  how  serious  a  matter 
it  is  to  little  chicks.  He  says  that  it  takes  many  times 
more  nutrition  and  strength  in  the  hen  to  grow  a  coat 
of  feathers  than  it  does  to  produce  eggs.  And  you 
know  how  few  hens,  even  when  mature  and  vigorous, 
can  grow  a  coat  of  feathers  and  lay  eggs  at  the  same 
time.  The  tiny  chick  has  a  small  body,  a  small  food 
capacity,  and  is  using  food  for  growth  all  the  time. 
The  salvation  for  any  animal  whose  feeders  do  not 
understand  the  value  of  various  grains,  etc.,  is  as  large 
a  variety  as  possible,  so  that  the  system  may  have  so 
many  more  chances  to  get  just  the  elements  that  it 
demands  from  the  food  provided. 

Probably  the  most  serious  lack  in  the  ration  you 
have  been  using  is  that  it  does  not  contain  meat;  nor 
do  you  mention  green  food.  Both  of  these  are  a 
necessity,  especially  at  the  time  of  feathering.  I've 
seen  whole  generations,  almost,  of  the  most  beautiful 
little  active  and  chipper  Leghorn  chicks  die  at  just 
about  the  period  named,  from  lack  of  enough  variety 
and  enough  meat  just  when  this  extreme  demand 
comes.  Besides  the  regular  feeds,  I  would  keep  a 


HANDLING   OF   COMMON   DISEASES      275 

dish  of  mixed  granulated  grains  and  bran  and  some 
meat  and  granulated  charcoal  where  all  the  chicks 
can  have  access  to  it  all  the  time.  This  gives  a  chance 
for  life  to  any  that  have  for  any  possible  reason  been 
hindered  from  getting  a  full  share  of  the  ration  allowed. 
If  you  can't  get  hold  of  any  other  green  stuff,  chop  even 
raw  potatoes  fine  and  give  once  a  day  for  a  time,  till 
you  can  grow  a  little  oats  or  lettuce,  or  get  some  cab- 
bage, which  last  is  the  handiest,  and,  I  think,  the  best 
you  can  get,  out  of  the  growing  season. 

"I  would  like  you  to  tell  me  what  the  matter  is  with  my  ducks. 
They  are  last-spring-hatched  ducks,  and  they  were  all  right  until 
about  the  middle  of  September,  when  I  went  away  and  left 
them  with  a  friend  of  ours.  When  I  got  them  back  again, 
about  six  weeks  ago,  they  were  very  thin  in  flesh  and  looked  very 
rough.  I  have  no  idea  where  they  kept  them  or  what  they  fed 
them.  Before  that  I  fed  them  cracked  corn,  kaffir  corn,  buck- 
wheat, and  oats.  Since  I  have  got  them  back  I  am  feeding  whole 
corn,  oatmeal,  cooked  potatoes,  and  meat  scraps  from  my  own 
table.  Sometimes  I  give  them  a  feeding  of  bread  crumbs  and 
pancakes  made  of  wheat  and  buckwheat  flour,  half  and  half. 
About  ever  since  I  have  had  them  this  last  time,  they  seem  to 
have  the  use  of  their  legs  only  by  spells  —  a  little  while  at  a 
time.  Is  this  rheumatism,  and  what  shall  I  do  for  them  ? 
They  have  a  dry  place  to  sleep  in,  and  I  give  them  oat  chaff  for 
bedding.  It  is  not  a  very  warm  place." 

If  you  had  seen,  as  I  have,  whole  flocks  of  domestic 
ducks  sleeping  the  winter  through,  in  thrift  and  ap- 


276      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

parent  comfort,  on  a  pond  covered  with  ice,  except 
where  fed  by  a  cold  spring,  you  would  not  feel  that 
moderate  cold  or  dampness  would  injure  them  seri- 
ously. It  might  be  true,  however,  that  a  damp  house 
would  be  worse  for  them  than  sleeping  on  the  water. 
The  chief  trouble  with  the  legs  of  fowls  appears  either 
as  weak  legs  or  rheumatism.  Weak  legs  come  usually 
from  overfeeding  or  giving  feed  which  does  not  contain 
enough  bone  material.  This  trouble  of  yours  may  be 
rheumatism,  though  I  do  not  dare  to  say  it  is. 

I  suspect  that  the  whole  difficulty  began  before 
your  neighbors  had  the  ducks,  and  that  you  did  not 
notice  it.  The  earlier  feed  is  far  from  what  duck 
breeders  make  most  use  of,  as  they  usually  depend  on 
corn  for  the  grain  feed,  and  use  much  bran  with  a 
little  meat,  corn  meal,  and  sometimes  wheat  middlings, 
for  the  mash.  They  expect  to  furnish  sand  for  young 
ducks  to  get  outside  of  in  some  way  —  more  often, 
perhaps,  in  the  mash  itself.  Some  say  a  small  handful 
to  each  quart  of  feed.  One-third  of  their  ration  ought 
to  be  green  food,  which  is  eaten  eagerly  if  cut  fine  and 
mixed  with  the  ground  stuff.  Boiled  vegetables  are 
all  right  for  them  a  part  of  the  time. 

Mr.  Hallock  is  one  of  the  largest  duck  raisers  in  this 
country.  His  ration  for  breeding  ducks  is  given  as 
follows:  four  pails  of  corn  meal,  two  pails  of  bran, 
one  pail  of  middlings,  one  pail  of  wheat  and  one  of 


HANDLING   OF   COMMON  DISEASES     277 

oats,  mixed  with  two  bushels  of  chopped  grass  or 
greens  or  chopped  clover,  this  last  dry  when  green 
stuff  cannot  be  had.  This  ration  is  nearly  half  green 
stuff  by  bulk.  If  you  read  "parts"  for  "pails,"  you 
can  easily  make  it  of  any  desired  quantity. 

"Tell  me  how  to  break  my  hens  of  eating  their  eggs.  I  feed 
them  cracked  corn  and  whole  wheat;  also  scraps  from  the  table. 
They  have  ground  bone,  oyster  shells,  ashes,  lime,  and  sand. 
What  more  can  I  feed  them  ?  If  I  knew  what  ones  eat  them,  I 
could  get  rid  of  them,  but  I  never  find  them  in  the  act,  but  find 
the  nests  wet  where  they  have  eaten  them.  I  have  never  fed 
my  hens  the  egg-shells,  so  they  did  not  learn  it  in  that  way." 

Reply:  In  order  to  know  how  to  handle  hens  in 
any  crisis,  it  is  necessary  to  have  knowledge  of  their 
habits  of  —  well,  say,  temperament.  In  many  points 
they  are  just  like  children :  what  they  are  in  the  habit 
of  doing  it  is  very  hard  to  break  them  of ;  and,  whether 
Satan  has  to  do  with  it  or  not,  there  will  be  mischief 
of  some  kind  among  the  fowls  if  they  are  idle.  Be- 
yond this,  there  is  always  a  possibility  of  eggs  being 
broken  where  the  fowls  are  housed,  and  thus  tempta- 
tion is  thrust  upon  them.  These  things  being  true,  it 
follows  that  keeping  the  birds  busy  is  one  great  step 
toward  keeping  them  out  of  mischief;  also  that  the 
most  sweeping  reform  along  the  line  of  inducing  good 
behavior  is  to  so  handle  them  that  they  will  not  stay 
where  the  eggs  are  any  longer  than  is  necessary.  This 


278      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

last  point  is  managed  by  many  by  having  a  laying 
room  and  a  staying  room,  so  to  speak.  And  if  the 
laying  room  is  less  light  than  the  living-room  (or  scratch- 
ing shed,  or  whatever  you  choose  to  call  it  or  make  it), 
other  things  being  equal,  the  fowls  will  always  prefer 
and  seek  the  lighter  room.  One  movement  in  the 
right  direction,  if  two  rooms  are  not  available,  and  it 
seems  necessary  to  keep  the  birds  confined,  is  to  gather 
the  eggs  often.  Most  of  this  is  preventive,  as  you 
see,  and,  to  most  people,  prevention  is  far  more  valu- 
able than  cure. 

But,  the  mischief  being  done,  if  the  fowls  must  be  kept 
housed  among  the  nests,  there  is  this  that  may  be  done : 
they  may  be  kept  scratching  about  all  the  time;  they 
may  be  fed  such  things  that  the  egg-shells  will  become 
too  strong  to  crush  easily,  and  if  extreme  care  be  taken 
to  furnish  them  shell,  grit,  and  bone,  the  shells  may  be 
made  so  hard  that  they  will  find  it  difficult  to  break 
them.  Feeding  green  stuff  in  sufficient  quantity  to 
overcome  the  abnormal  appetites  that  are  liable  to 
seize  a  grazing  animal  cut  off  from  grass  will  be  an- 
other help.  It  is,  of  course,  good  sense  to  turn  the 
nests  to  face  away  from  the  light  and  place  them  high 
enough  so  that  the  fowls  cannot  see  into  them  all  the 
time,  and  arrange  them  so  that  they  cannot  stand  in 
front  of  them  much.  All  these  bad  conditions  to- 
gether are  found  in  many  poultry-houses,  and,  as  the 


HANDLING   OF   COMMON   DISEASES      279 

hen  appreciates  good  eggs  even  better  than  her  owner 
does,  the  wonder  really  is  that  more  of  them  do  not 
become  pronounced  egg  eaters.  If  all  else  fails,  the 
nests  must  be  fitted  with  false  bottoms  of  cloth,  so  that 
the  egg,  as  laid,  will  pass  through  a  slit  and  be  beyond 
the  hen's  reach.  Open-air  life  is  the  best  insurance 
against  egg  eating. 


THE  INDIAN  RUNNER   DUCK 

Its  Appearance  and  Habits  — Its  Utility  Value  — Its  Claims 
to  Recognition  in  America 

WHILE  the  Indian  Runner  Duck  fails  to  reach  the 
American  ideal  in  being  a  general-purpose  fowl,  it  is 
so  strong  in  its  specialty  of  egg  production,  and  so  well 
adapted  to  fill  a  special  place  in  the  flesh  market 
as  well,  that  it  is  crowding  its  way  forward  to  an  un- 
precedented degree.  Though  these  birds  have  been 
known  in  the  British  Isles  for  many  years,  it  is  now 
scarcely  five  years  since  the  first  inquiry  regarding  them, 
showing  the  awakening  of  popular  interest,  reached 
my  desk.  At  that  time  a  few  scattering  articles  from 
British  writers  in  our  poultry  publications  about  com- 
prised the  literature  concerning  them  in  America. 
They  were  in  our  1905  Standard,  but  I  had  not  then 
seen  one  in  the  shows,  though  I  do  not  say  that  none 
had  been  shown. 

No  topic  concerning  which  I  have  ever  written  for 

the  help  of  poultry  keepers  has  proved  so  interesting 

and  so  popular  as  this.     Letter  after  letter  comes  to 

me,  asking  questions,  suggesting  articles,  or  backing 

280 


THE   INDIAN    RUNNER   DUCK  281 

up  statements  previously  made,  by  experiences  from 
the  writers'  own  yards.  Yet  I  do  not  know  of  another 
breed  of  ducks  which  has  been  so  persistently  decried 
in  some  quarters,  chiefly  by  those  who  knew  little 
about  them,  and  who  have  allowed  a  previously  formed 
prejudice  to  warp  their  judgment. 

The  Indian  Runner  has  changed  all  this  by  sheer 
force  of  merit.  It  has  forced  its  way  all  over  the 
country,  and  from  all  quarters  comes  the  same  story 
regarding  its  value.  It  is  rapidly  making  a  history, 
and  hence  a  literature  of  its  own,  through  its  per- 
formance upon  American  soil,  and  I  know  of  no  other 
fowls  concerning  which  growers  thereof  are  so  unitedly 
enthusiastic.  Whatever  may  be  said  to  the  detriment 
of  fanciers  as  a  class,  I  think  it  is  wholly  true  that 
they  are  filled  with  satisfaction  when  they  discover  a 
variety  which  can  "  make  good,"  —  as  they  like  to  say, 
—  one  for  which  they  do  not  have  to  apologize  at 
some  point.  The  best  exponent  of  such  a  variety  at 
present  before  the  public  is  the  Indian  Runner  duck. 
The  plant,  the  flower,  the  fowl,  that  can  best  illustrate 
the  word  "satisfactory"  is  a  most  excellent  one  to 
handle.  It  is  at  the  head  of  this  class  that  the  Indian 
Runner  stands. 

The  American  Standard,  as  at  present  operative, 
shows  a  bird  long  in  body,  comparatively  thin  from 
breast  to  back,  looking  as  if  flattened,  with  a  thin,  long 


282      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

neck,  an  upright  carriage,  a  bill  running  in  a  straight 
line  with  the  top  of  the  head,  and  a  main  tail  on  the  same 
line  with  the  flat  back.  Its  peculiarity  of  appearance  is 
described  as  "racy-looking"  —  a  word  which  neither 
Webster  nor  the  Standard  glossary  defines.  Probably 
the  most  illuminating  phrase  in  the  Standard  description 
is,  "resembling  the  penguin  in  form."  And  yet,  as  one 
looks  at  the  long,  slim  neck  of  the  Runner,  with  its  trim- 
ness  of  feather,  and  notes  the  short,  thick  neck  and  head 
appendages  of  the  penguin,  he  will  begin  to  think  that 
the  Standard  makers  did  not  express  themselves  quite 
accurately,  and  that  they  probably  meant  "  resembling 
the  penguin  in  carriage."  A  common  expression  for  this 
carriage  would  be  that  the  bird  "stands  on  end."  As 
pictured,  the  angle  of  the  body  carriage  is  about  forty- 
five  degrees,  which  is  very  upright,  as  compared  with 
most  domesticated  fowls.  The  present  (1909)  colors  are 
light  fawn  and  white,  in  the  preferred  form,  though  gray 
and  white  has  been  allowed  as  an  alternative  combina- 
tion. I  think  breeders  have  already  been  throwing 
gray  out  as  much  as  possible,  —  it  surely  was  an  error 
to  allow  it,  —  and  the  next  Standard  will  not  allow  gray 
and  will  omit  the  adjective,  making  the  colors  fawn  and 
white.  These  are  almost  equally  divided,  the  head 
and  anterior  part  of  the  body  being  fawn,  the  neck  and 
the  posterior  part  white.  On  the  back,  the  darker  color 
runs  toward  the  tail  in  a  point  so  as  to  form  a  very  true 


THE   INDIAN   RUNNER   DUCK  283 

heart  shape  low  on  the  back,  though  it  cuts  straight 
around  the  neck  in  a  clean  line  of  demarcation.  The 
only  break  in  the  contour  line  of  the  back,  when  the 
characteristic  carriage  is  assumed,  is  made  by  the  curled 
feathers  in  the  tail  of  the  matured  drake. 

Contrary  to  the  idea  gained  by  the  usual  references 
to  the  upright  carriage,  the  Indian  Runners,  as  seen  in 
America,  do  not  show  this  carriage  notably,  except  when 
in  fear,  or  when  running.  But  it  is  the  one  point  on 
which  judges  will  be  likely  to  insist,  as  far  as  possible, 
since  it  is  the  most  distinctive  feature  of  the  appear- 
ance, and  gives  the  breed  its  name. 

The  Runners  are,  essentially,  gamy  birds.  They 
have  not  forgotten  the  days  behind  them,  when  every 
hillock  might  hide  an  enemy,  and  the  males,  especially, 
are  constantly  on  the  lookout  for  danger,  and  announce 
it  many  times,  in  domestication,  when  none  is  near. 
This  causes  stampedes,  frequently,  and  makes  the 
entire  flock  grow  more  wild.  For  this  reason  it  is  wise 
to  reduce  the  number  of  males  to  the  required  breeding 
numbers  as  early  as  possible. 

It  may  be  considered  practically  impossible,  at  the 
present  stage,  to  overcome,  wholly,  the  timidity  of  the 
Runner.  But  a  great  deal  can  be  done  by  taking  special 
pains  to  tame  them  when  young,  to  avoid  movements 
which  frighten  any  nervous  bird,  and  to  remove  the 
males  that  are  unnecessary  as  soon  as  may  be.  The 


284      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

Indian  Runner  has  been  called  the  Leghorn  of  the  duck 
family,  and  those  who  dislike  Leghorns  because  (usu- 
ally) they  are  themselves  of  a  nervous  temperament, 
will  not  be  wholly  successful  in  handling  the  Runners. 

Although  nervous  and  restless  at  times,  the  Runner 
rests  completely  when  it  does  rest,  and  accustoms  itself 
to  confinement  rather  more  easily,  I  think,  than  most 
breeds  of  fowls.  It  will  thrive  and  lay  exceedingly  well 
in  confinement  and  with  only  water  enough  for  drinking, 
so  that  not  only  can  it  be  raised  profitably  on  farms 
which  have  natural  springs  or  streams,  but  on  dry-land 
places  as  well.  The  birds  are  classed  as  non-sitters,  but 
an  occasional  one  will  manifest  a  desire  to  raise  a  family. 
The  males  are  sometimes  troublesome,  and  it  is  alto- 
gether wise  to  keep  their  number  as  low  as  may  be. 
This  is,  indeed,  a  broad  wisdom,  in  dealing  with  all 
fowls,  for  a  lot  of  unproductive  and  troublesome 
males  is  a  decided  detriment  to  any  flock,  and  a  source 
of  loss  in  money. 

As  to  the  value  of  the  Indian  Runner,  there  is  no  dis- 
senting voice,  as  far  as  my  knowledge  goes,  among  those 
who  have  given  it  a  fair  trial.  Indeed,  there  is  enthusiasm 
galore.  A  woman  who  characterized  her  experience 
with  the  Runners  as  "a  profitable  and  a  happy  one," 
stated  that  her  birds  laid  almost  continuously  from 
January  to  July,  and,  after  the  moult,  began  again  early 
in  October.  From  three  stock  ducks  she  raised,  the  first 


THE   INDIAN   RUNNER  DUCK  285 

year,  one  hundred  and  fifty  young,  and  she  stated  that 
they  weighed  three  pounds  each  at  nine  weeks  old. 
"An  investment  of  thirteen  dollars,"  she  says,  "has 
given  me  a  flock  valued  at  three  hundred  dollars.  Is 
it  any  wonder  I  am  an  ardent  admirer  of  the  Indian 
Runner  duck  ?  She  is  a  friend  to  the  poultryman,  and 
a  veritable  gold-mine  to  the  farmer.  He  can  go  out 
every  morning  and  bring  in  his  basketful  of  eggs,  which 
bring  from  five  to  ten  cents  a  dozen  more  in  the  market 
than  chicken  eggs." 

A  New  York  man,  having  a  small  flock  under  the 
first  trial,  states  that  his  birds,  hatched  in  June,  began 
laying  in  January,  and  from  February  15  to  July  24, 
in  one  stretch,  they  laid  an  average  of  one  hundred  and 
thirty-three  eggs.  This  was  one  hundred  and  fifty-nine 
days.  As  a  table  fowl  he  considers  that  they  surpass 
anything  within  his  knowledge.  He,  as  well  as  many 
others,  mentions  the  small  amount  of  food  eaten.  One 
eulogistic  woman  writes  that  the  food  needed  by  a 
Pekin  duck  for  one  day  will  last  a  Runner  a  week! 
The  Runner  weighs  four  and  one-half  pounds,  when  not 
above  Standard  weight,  and  might  naturally  be  allowed 
one-half  the  feed  of  a  Pekin.  They  are  small  eaters, 
but  I  think  the  above  may  have  been  "a  guess."  The 
question  of  raising  the  Standard  weight  of  the  Runner 
has  been  discussed  not  a  little  by  interested  breeders, 
but  the  feeling  is  very  general  that  raising  the  weight 


286      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

would  almost  surely  result  in  lessening  the  constant- 
laying  tendency.  In  shipping  a  coop  of  young  males 
recently,  I  weighed  several.  None  went  below  four  and 
three-fourths  pounds,  one  weighing  five.  This  shows 
that  we  can  raise  the  weight  if  we  desire  to  do  so. 

Some  time  ago  a  correspondent  sent  me  a  record 
for  the  year,  for  free-range  stock.  The  average  number 
laid  was  one  hundred  and  eighty-five.  This  is  by  no 
means  as  high  as  is  claimed  for  these  ducks,  two  hundred 
being,  apparently,  regarded  as  quite  easily  reached, 
while  two  hundred  and  fifty  is  freely  claimed.  At  any 
rate,  a  common  expression  among  those  testing  them, 
is,  "They  beat  all  I  ever  saw,  for  laying." 

"  They  go  ahead  of  anything  I  ever  had  in  feathers," 
said  one  of  my  correspondents. 

As  a  fairly  conservative  statement  I  would  like  to 
quote  from  one  who  had,  at  the  time  of  making  this 
public  estimate,  bred  the  birds  for  fifteen  years.  "I 
have  kept  records  of  the  different  pens,  and  in  many 
cases  the  average  has  been  up  to  one  hundred  and  ninety 
eggs  in  the  year.  The  best  individual  layers  do  not  lay 
over  two  hundred  eggs,  but  the  average  for  a  good  strain 
of  layers  can  be  safely  set  at  one  hundred  and  eighty  per 
annum.  The  [weight]  average  is  twenty-one  pounds  to 
one  hundred  and  twenty  eggs,  so  that  a  duck  which 
weighs  four  and  one-half  pounds  and  lays  one  hundred 
and  eighty  eggs  produces  exactly  seven  times  her  own 


THE   INDIAN    RUNNER   DUCK  287 

weight."  The  same  breeder  (writing  for  the  British 
Isles)  says:  "This  duck  is  at  her  best,  so  far  as  egg 
production  is  concerned,  during  October,  November, 
December,  and  January,  and  lays  until  the  end  of  July." 

From  far  New  Zealand  comes  corroboration  of  this, 
in  the  statement  that  the  Runners  "lay  when  eggs  are 
dear,  and  when  most  of  the  hens  go  on  a  strike."  The 
author  of  it,  claiming  to  be  the  manager  of  "  the  largest 
poultry  plant  in  New  Zealand,"  avers  that  he  has  had 
an  average  production,  from  a  flock  of  twenty,  of  two 
hundred  and  thirty-four  eggs.  With  others  added,  the 
bunch  averaged,  in  the  second  year,  one  hundred  and 
eighty-four,  and,  being  made  up  to  sixty,  the  lot  aver- 
aged, the  third  year,  one  hundred  and  eighty-three. 
Two  ducks  in  a  pen  apart  laid  two  hundred  and  forty- 
two  each,  within  a  year.  The  feed  usual  with  this  flock 
was  bran  and  middlings,  5  per  cent  of  meat  meal, 
whole  corn  at  night,  and  as  much  green  feed  as  of  bran. 
The  photograph  of  breeding  pen  published  by  this 
manager  shows  birds  so  like  our  own  that  they  might  be 
mistaken  for  them.  He  states  that  he  reared,  in  a  single 
season,  eight  hundred  and  forty-four  out  of  nine  hundred 
hatched;  this  is  a  strong  point,  the  loss  always  being 
small  when  the  care  is  reasonably  good. 

I  took  up  these  birds  solely  to  prove  them,  and  have 
found  them  the  most  interesting  birds  I  have  ever  han- 
dled, with  the  exception,  possibly,  of  Embden  geese.  I 


288      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

have  found  them  more  reliable  layers  than  any  of  the 
fifteen  varieties  of  hens  that  I  have  had  at  various  times 
during  a  long  period  of  years.  This  includes  most  of 
the  American  varieties,  Minorcas,  and  both  White  and 
Brown  Leghorns.  The  ducks  have  never  been  later  than 
February  in  taking  up  the  spring  task,  and,  when  early 
hatched,  they  have  never  laid  at  later  than  five  months, 
one  lot  of  March-hatched  laying  at  four  and  one-half 
months.  Others  have  claimed  that  they  would  lay  at 
five  months,  no  matter  when  hatched.  Ours  have  not 
reached  this  record,  if  hatched  late  in  the  summer. 
But  no  one  can  be  too  arbitrary  in  making  statements 
as  to  what  is  impossible  for  these  birds,  as  ducks  will 
stand  pretty  heavy  meat  feeding,  and  the  amount  of 
meat  fed,  other  things  being  equal,  will  probably  decide 
the  amount  of  the  egg  product. 

During  the  past  season  I  visited  the  yards  of  a  most 
enthusiastic  breeder  of  the  Runners,  and  found  over 
one  hundred  and  twenty  ducks  of  fine  quality  and  in 
thorough  vigor.  She  told  me  that  she  received  at  least 
eight  cents  above  the  going  price  for  hen  eggs  for  all  her 
Runner  eggs.  Why  not,  since  they  weigh  one-half  more, 
on  the  average?  Later  on,  I  received  a  letter  from  her 
containing  this  bit  of  record:  "My  free-range  flock 
averaged  75  per  cent  for  July,  50  per  cent  for  August, 
and  34  per  cent  for  September.  They  are  about 
through  moulting,  and  laying  as  well  or  better  than 


THE   INDIAN    RUNNER   DUCK  289 

last  month."  This  was  written  October  n.  I  re- 
gard this  breeder's  statements  as  absolutely  reliable. 
And  I  do  not  know  of  "anything  in  feathers,"  —  to 
quote  my  other  friend,  —  aside  from  the  Runners,  that 
will  equal  this  record. 

In  August,  1909,  while  attending  a  large  gathering 
of  the  men  who  are  influencing  most  strongly  the 
poultry  industry  in  the  United  States,  I  made  it  a  part 
of  my  business  to  talk  with  some  of  the  foremost  breed- 
ers of  Indian  Runners  regarding  this  breed.  They 
regarded  its  future  as  very  bright.  One  of  them  who 
has  not  even  made  Runners  his  specialty,  told  me  he 
filled  one  order  for  five  thousand  eggs  last  season. 
Yet  it  seems  to  be  the  feeling  that  the  demand  of  the 
immediate  future  will  be  greater  than  the  supply. 

I  was  in  an  interested  conversation  with  a  keen 
man  of  affairs  in  New  York  City.  Our  topic  was  the 
three-hundred-egg  hen.  This  gentleman  said:  "I  do 
not  believe  it  is  possible  for  hens,  as  they  are  now  con- 
stituted, to  lay  three  hundred  eggs  in  a  year.  We  may 
have,  in  the  future,  something  with  feathers,  maybe 
looking  something  like  a  hen,  that  can  do  it."  I  think 
we  may  see  the  answer  to  this  semi-prophecy  in  the 
Indian  Runner  duck ! 

I  have  looked  over  a  stack  of  copies  of  an  im- 
portant poultry  magazine,  the  numbers  covering  sev- 
eral years  more  or  less  completely,  and  beginning  with 


29o      HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

1904.  In  the  period  covered  thus  I  found  but  two 
articles  on  Indian  Runners,  and  noted  no  other  refer- 
ences to  this  breed.  Now  one  can  scarcely  take  up  an 
issue  without  finding  some  reference  to  the  breed.  This 
shows  how  strongly  and  quickly  its  popularity  has 
come  upon  it.  In  a  word,  it  seems  that  the  Indian 
Runner  commands  its  following. 

It  is  a  fact  well  known  to  those  who  have  taken  any 
interest  in  the  subject  that  duck  eggs  have  not  been 
offered  in  the  largest  markets,  in  earlier  years,  after  mid- 
summer, and  it  has  been  taken  for  granted  by  some 
that  they  were  not  desired  after  this  date.  Inquiry 
among  commission  men  has  brought  out  the  statement 
that  they  have  not  been  quoted  simply  because  they 
could  not  be  obtained  in  sufficient  numbers  to  warrant 
it.  With  the  spread  of  the  Indian  Runner  there  is  the 
best  of  reasons  to  believe  that  quotations  will  appear 
later,]  and  throughout  the  season.  Restaurants,  bak- 
eries, and  egg-drink  establishments  will  serve  their  own 
interests  in  a  high  degree  by  calling  for  these  duck  eggs, 
as,  even  at  an  advance  overj  the  price  of  hen  eggs,  they 
will  be  economical.  The  fact  that  they  make  very  su- 
perior custards,  and  most  delicious  omelets,  by  using  a 
little  more  liquid  than  hen  eggs  will  bear,  makes  for 
economy  and  gastronomical  pleasure  as  well.  A 
physician  in  one  of  the  large  Eastern  cities  has  pre- 
scribed them  for  his  patients  as  being  better  than  hen 


THE   INDIAN    RUNNER   DUCK  291 

eggs,  and  they  are  constantly  increasing  in  public 
regard. 

While  feathers  are  not  the  item  they  once  were  among 
the  necessities  of  life,  there  is  still  sufficient  demand  to 
hold  the  price  above  what  middle-class  people  can 
afford  to  pay.  Since  duck  feathers  are  recognized 
as  being  far  superior  to  hen  feathers,  the  additional 
income  to  be  had  from  the  sale  of  feathers  is  by  no 
means  to  be  overlooked.  I  do  not  now  recall,  in  fact, 
any  other  farm  product  which  will  enable  the  grower 
to  turn  his  money  so  many  times  in  a  season,  and  so 
profitably-,  as  this  duck.  This  quick  turning  of  money 
with  a  profit  is  the  key  to  business  success  —  a  fact  so 
well  known  as  to  be  an  axiom  with  retailers. 

A  special  market  for  the  flesh  is  likely  to  open,  it  is 
thought,  along  the  line  of  supplying  the  deficiency  in 
game  birds.  The  bird  is  small,  the  flesh  is  gamy,  and 
very  toothsome  indeed,  and  the  market  for  real  game 
birds  is  turning  more  and  more  to  other  birds  to  supply 
its  demand.  The  guinea  fowl,  though  it  has  entered 
this  field,  and  has  risen  in  price  of  late,  cannot,  in  the 
nature  of  things,  furnish  so  continuous  and  large  a  sup- 
ply as  the  Indian  Runner  duck  can  easily  give.  Thus 
there  seems  to  be  no  reason  to  expect  other  than  that 
the  Runner  will  enter  a  field  so  large,  and  which  it  is  so 
well  fitted  to  fill. 

With  the  idea  of  feeling  the  market  (or  perhaps  post- 


292       HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS   FOR  PROFIT 

ing  it  in  advance)  with  regard  to  the  Indian  Runner 
duck,  I  wrote  to  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  reliable 
commission  firms  in  New  York  City.  I  described  the 
duck,  in  a  general  way,  and  asked  if  it  had  appeared  in 
the  market,  and  what  the  chances  might  be  as  to  its 
taking  a  "game"  position.  The  reply  stated  that  they 
were  not  yet  familiar  with  this  duck,  by  name,  although 
they  might  have  sold  it,  unknowing.  The  statement 
was  absolute  that  almost  any  good  bird  would  sell  well, 
the  chief  point  being  that  they  must  be  fat  and  of  good 
flavor.  As  the  Indian  Runners  will  be  fully  responsible 
for  the  good  flavor,  it  remains  only  for  the  owners  to  see 
that  they  are  well  fattened.  The  market  will  not  fail. 
As  I  write  the  closing  words  of  this  study,  word  comes 
that,  in  our  local  market,  chickens  took  an  advance  jump 
of  five  cents  during  the  holiday  week,  selling,  dressed, 
at  twenty-eight  cents  per  pound.  Also  from  New 
York  market  comes  the  report  of  carload  lots  of  turkeys 
selling  at  twenty-four  cents,  which  means,  probably, 
above  thirty  cents  to  the  consumer.  The  American 
hen  and  her  kindred  are  commanding  the  market  as 
never  before !  To  use  the  words  of  our  Secretary  of 
Agriculture,  "This  industry  has  advanced  at  such  a 
rapid  rate  that  no  arithmetic  can  keep  up  with  it" 


INDEX 


Abnormalities,  occasional,  273. 
Accidents,  common,  240. 
Acid,  carbolic,  256. 
Advance  sheets,  Government  report,  i. 
Arithmetic,  behind  poultry  industry, 
292. 

Beauty  vs.  utility,  117. 
Billion-dollar  hen,  the  coming,  112. 
Birds,   coming:    Orpingtons,    White 

Rocks,  35. 

Blockiness,  craze  for,  95. 
Board  of  Trade,  enterprising,  147. 
Bone,  green,   may  cause    diarrhoea, 

265. 
Breeds,   American,   Buff    Orpington, 

notable  rival,  52. 
Breeds  best,  in  Australian  tests,  62. 

best  paying,  10. 

color  domination,  13. 

competing,  abroad,  56. 

early,  Javas,  Dominiques,  20. 

Standard,  American  class,  13. 
Broilers,  137. 

Guinea,  4. 

Bulletins,  value  of,  168. 
Buyers  and  reasons,  137. 

Cantharides,  blistering  skin,  172. 
Chicken-pox,    cause,     treatment     of 

254,  269. 
Chicks: 

affected  by  feed,  igr. 

best  time  for  hatching,  196. 

beware  of  musty  grain  for,  194. 

box  raising,  109. 


Chicks,  distributing  mash,  193. 

doubling  up,  204. 

dressed,  advance  in  market  of,  292, 

extravagances,  195. 

farm,  confining,  204. 

February  and  March,  197. 

feeding,  character  of  mash,  193. 
continuous  supplies,  192. 

first  cost  of,  140. 

give  sunshine  early,  189. 

good  eggs  necessary  to,  198. 

good  tendencies  of,  207. 

lack  of  water  fatal  to,  198. 

late,  197,  200. 

meat  for  precocious  feathering,  194. 

shelter  for,  201. 

summer  handicaps  of,  198. 

the  "contingent  fund,"  199. 

too  dose  coops  ruin,  202. 

trampling  each  other,  203. 

varied  diet  a  necessity  to,  274. 

vermin  on,  205. 

weakly,  a  prey  to  diseases,  131, 132. 

weaning  coops  for,  202. 

weather  changes  affecting,  188, 189, 

190. 
Cockerels,  many,  cause  loss,  135. 

sell  early,  139. 
Colds,  reglected,  258. 

routing,  253. 
Color,  chicks,  various  breeds,  184, 18$ 

1 86. 
buff,  fading,  31. 

w.  white,  31,  33. 
ducklings,  Runner,  187. 
foreign,  in  Brown  Leghorns,  187. 


293 


294 


INDEX 


Comb,  indicating  condition,  205. 
Condition,  indicators  of,  206,  208. 

laying,  handling  to  judge,  265. 

of  droppings  important,  209. 
Constitution,  good,  vital,  130. 
Coop  "A,"  corners  of,  243. 

weaning,  202,  230. 
Coops,  small  cornerless,  203. 

stuffy,  201. 

summer,  202. 

too  small,  201. 

unsheltered,  190. 

with  roosts,  204. 
Cornish,  White  Laced  Red,  84. 
Cracks,  lead  to  distempers,  261. 
Crippling,  temporary,  due  to  male,  266. 
Culling,  importance  of,  130. 

Diarrhoea  due  to  rich  mash,  266. 
Disease,  due  to  faulty  conditions,  249. 

foresight  concerning,  251. 

nervous,  270. 

nervous,  causes  of,  270,  272. 
Diseases,  summer,  249. 

nervous,  250. 
Distempers,  257. 
Dominique,  American: 

hardiness  of,  21. 

increase  in  favor,  21. 

precedence  of,  21. 

type  of,  21. 

why  behind  Rock,  21. 
Doors,  front,  to  each  pen,  235. 

screen,  236. 
Drugs: 

disinfectant,  177. 

fatal  forcing  with,  171. 

in  condition  powders,  experiments, 
179. 

in  drinking  water,  178. 

stimulant,  in  egg  foods,  176. 
Ducks: 

good,  sell  well,  292. 

Indian  Runner, 
carriage,  282. 
colors,  282. 
decried,  praised,  281. 


Ducks : 

Indian  Runner, 

early,  reliable  layers,  288. 

eggs,  bonus  for,  288. 

enthusiasm  of  breeders  for,  284. 

flesh,  special  market  filler,  291. 

in  New  Zealand,  287. 

laving  records,  285,  286,  288. 

merit  of,  281. 

quotations  on,  290. 

Standard  illustration,  281. 

superior,  economical,  200. 

thrift  in  confinement,  284. 

timidity  of,  283. 
unthrift,  lameness,  276. 
vegetable  food  necessary,  277. 

Egg: 

laying,  averages  with  large  num- 
bers, 159. 

depends  on  digestion,  158. 
general  averages  of,  159. 
low  average,  163. 
phenomenal  flock  averages,  160. 
production,    claimed     records    of, 

160,  162,  163. 

Egg  farms,  system  of  branch  117. 
Eggs: 

breeds  vary  as  to  fertility,  152. 
brown,  most  common,  143. 
chilled,  supposed  infertile,  153. 
dark  brown,  unattractive,  142. 

not  richer,  142. 
fertility,  care  improves,  153. 
hatching  qualities,  148. 
hens  eating,  277. 
infertiles,  for  chicks,  149. 
judging  breed  by,  141. 
knowing  fertility  of,  152. 
losses,  gains,  though  infertiles,  149, 

151- 

of  various  breeds,  144. 
perfect,  what  makes,  151. 
source  of  income,  8. 
shape  of,  143. 
Standard  for,  142. 
Error,  greatest,  on  farms,  150. 


INDEX 


295 


Expenses,  fanciers',  116. 
make  birds  pay,  248. 
Experiment,  fresh  air,  drastic,  228. 
Experimenting,  cooperative,  68. 

Failures,  cause  of,  134. 
Fancier: 

builds  foundations,  106. 

gives  farmer  uniform  standard,  107. 

must  be  good  business  man,  103. 

must  be  practical,  104. 

the,  at  work,  101. 

works  for  uniformity,  105. 
Fancy  and  utility,  mutual  support- 
ers, oo. 

Farms,  small,  near  towns  scarce,  127. 
Faults,  in  feeding,  210. 
Feathering,  chick,  critical  period,  274. 
Feed,  surplus  provision,  275. 
Feeding,  lack  of  judgment  in,  263. 
Feeds,  combining,  264. 

forcing,  167. 
Flies,    blister,    cause    inflammation, 

172. 

Foods,  stimulating  power  o  ,  133. 
Fowl,  market,  best  form  for,  121. 
Fowls,  condition  of,  205. 

market,  "fricassee,"  123. 
Front,   doth,   compromise  on,    232, 

235- 
movable,  231. 

muslin,  double,  229. 
too  warm,  230. 

Game,  Government  protection  of,  5. 

supply  affects  poultry  market,  3. 
Gapes,  prevention  of,  252. 

treatment  for,  252. 
Gauge,   moisture,   Government    pat- 
ents, 2. 
Guinea,  4,  9,  291. 

Habits,  hens',  to  be  watched,  134. 

Health,  selection  for,  206. 

Hen,    American,  commands  market, 

292. 
distrust  of,  127. 


Hen: 

profitable,     must     be 

worker,  129. 

Hens,  egg-eating,  keep  busy,  278. 
Hiring,  impracticable,  246. 
House,  damp,  cause  of,  219. 

double  boarding,  218. 

floor  space,  217. 

for  fifty  hens,  216. 

fresh  air,  225. 

"improved,"  229. 

needs  drainage,  217,  220. 

sanitation  of,  imperative,  251. 

Tolman,  approach  toward,  228,  237. 
evolution  of,  227. 
good  points  of,  226. 

ventilation  of,  helps  warmth,  225. 
Houses,  "A"  style,  rather  common, 
212. 

cement-walled,  221,  223. 

poultry,  unusual,  211,  213. 

Ideals,  varying,  38. 
Inexperience,  243,  247. 
Inflammations,  oviduct,  causes  of,  268. 
Inquiry,  letters,  actual,   of,   30,  171, 

175,  216,  220,  224,  262,  267, 

273,  275,  277- 

Instruction,  poultry,  public,  246. 
Investment,  careful,  125. 

Java,  Black,  hardy,  21. 
of  Asiatic  type,  21. 
Professor  Watson's  estimate  of,  21. 
superior,  20. 

Laying,  strong  muscles  necessary  to, 

268. 

Learning,  cost  of,  243. 
Leghorns,  Rose  Comb  Brown: 

as  fancy  fowls,  64. 

breeders  of,  enthusiastic,  65. 

eggs,  number  and  size,  64. 

profit,  yearly,  $5.27,  60. 

quality  of,  63,  67. 

record  of,  60. 

Special  Government  notice  of,  6t 


296 


INDEX 


Leghorns,  Rose  Comb  Brown: 

status  of,  61. 

tested  with  other  breeds,  60. 

weight,  63. 

"world-beaters,"  67. 
White,  high  standing  of,  61. 
Legs,  scaly,  treating,  252. 
Limberneck,  causes  of,  271. 

Market,  catching  right,  136. 
Markets,  demands  of  American,  120. 
Meat,  gamy,  domestic  producers  of,  g. 
Meats,  investigation  concerning,  7. 
Medicines,  259. 
Mischief,  due  to  feed  and  handling, 

278. 
Money,  put  into  poultry,  124,  129. 

sunk,  126. 
Mothers: 

brooders  make  inferior,  183. 

faults  as:   Rocks,  Buckeyes,  Reds, 
Columbians,  181,  182. 

nearly  perfect,  White  Wyandottes, 
182. 

superior,  American  breeds  are,  180. 

what  constitutes  good,  181. 

Netting,  wire,  diamond  mesh,  239. 

Ointments,  disinfectant,  252. 
Orpington,  Buff,  no  Orpington  blood, 

S3- 
Black,  egg  average,  in  competition, 

56. 

leads  its  breed,  56. 
Buff,  American  ideals,  54. 
egg  average,  in  test,  56. 
inferior  to  Black,  in  egg    pro- 
duction, 56. 

no  Orpington  blood,  53. 
numbers  recently  shown,  55,  58. 
origin  of,  53. 
popularity,    England,    America, 

56. 

seemingly  making  good,  55. 
Outcrossing,  37. 
Oviduct,  aversion  of,  267. 


Partitions,  cloth,  234. 
Popularity,  in  general,  34. 
Poultry,  farm,  1899  values,  112. 

Government  interest  in,  a. 

pays,  proof  that,  127. 

rank,  probable,  igio,  2. 
Prices: 

advance  of,  8. 
eggs,  sympathetic,  8. 

high,  for  fancy  eggs,  115. 

poultry  vs.  grain,  8. 

wholesale,  average,  advancing,  113. 
Problems,  breeding,  30. 
Products,  farm,  rising  prices  of,  8. 

value  of,  i. 
Profit,  margin  of,  138. 

other  meats,  8. 

winter,  depends  on  handling,  119. 
Profits,  price  drop  comes  out  of,  122. 
Promises,  deceitful,  167,  169. 
Pullets,  quarter  separately,  135. 

Questions,  beginners',  238. 

Rations,  elements  lacking  in,  274. 
Records,  high,  dangerous,  165. 

private,  unreliable,  170. 
Red,  Buckeye: 

a  woman's  successful  work,  46. 

color  standard,  48. 

confused  with  Rhode  Island  Reds, 
44- 

faults,  49. 

first  base,  Plymouth  Rock,  46. 

flesh  fine  grained,  46. 

good  for  table,  48. 

hardy,  48. 

origin  and  name,  45. 

originator's  statement,  46. 

richness  of  color,  50. 
Red,  Rhode  Island: 

advancement  rapid,  75. 

color  consistency,  41. 

defects,  75,  76. 

hard  to  breed  to  Standard,  37,  40. 

origin,  38,  40. 

Rose  Comb,  once  "American,"  43. 


INDEX 


297 


Red,  Rhode  Island: 
shape  inconsistency,  40. 
Standard  requirements,  40. 
under  color,  42. 
William  Tripp's  work  with,  39. 
Rock,  Barred  Plymouth: 

color  terms,  14,  15. 

difficulty  in  breeding,  12. 

foreign  color  in,  n. 

laying  capacity,  16. 

low  egg  average,  17. 

most  widely  bred,  16. 

on  farms,  15. 

scale  of  points,  13. 

Standard  weight,  14. 
Buff,  as  a  layer,  18. 

fattens  too  easily,  19. 

valuable,  18. 
White,  bidding  for  favor,  76. 

a  "find,"  17. 

a  safe  choice,  17. 

"coming  fowl,"  17. 

critical  estimate  of,  18. 

mammoth  specimen,  20. 
Roosts  warm,  at  night,  231. 
Roup: 

applying  liquids  to  mouth,  174. 
attributed  to  warm  houses,  233. 
duct  stoppage  causing  lumps,  173. 
use  of  kerosene,  175. 

Season,  selling,  adapting  stock  to,  122. 
Shade,  abundance  of,  a  necessity,  156. 
Shelter,  warmest,  232. 
Standard  of  Perfection: 

a  necessity  to  breeders,  87,  91. 

basis  of  laws,  94. 

color  plates,  30. 

copyrighted,  93. 

difficulties  in  making,  96. 

exact  coincidence  with,  36. 

glossary  of,  93. 

keeps  up  weights,  100. 

law  for  breeders,  92. 

making  breed  distinctiveness  clear, 
29. 

mental  standard,  auxiliary  to,  88. 


Standard  of  Perfection: 

modifies  foreign  types,  94. 

revised,  1909,  86. 
Stations,  Experiment,  results  of  work, 

170. 

Statistics,  expected  to  be  fuller,  in. 
Storage,  cold: 

chickens,  danger  in  holding,  146. 

egg-producers  availing    selves    of, 
147. 

in  New  Zealand,  145. 

investigation  of,  146. 
Stories,  impossible,  164,  167,  169. 

Team  work  in  poultry,  140. 
Treatment,  therapeutic,  failures  in, 

2S9- 

Trees,  as  roosts,  261. 
Type,  egg,  165. 
general,  16. 

photographs  deny  common  idea  of, 
166. 

Utility,  three  chief  points  of,  118. 

Varieties: 
"any  other,"  79. 
beauty  types,  American,  84. 
bleaching  white,  83. 
color  deciding  rank,  74. 
Columbian  to  lead,  83. 
competing  Wyandottes  and  Rocks, 

81. 

Government  introduction  of,  71. 
interest  in  fancy,  82. 
new,  enough  now,  70. 
popular  in  our  shows,  79. 
competing      Wyandottes      and 

Rocks,  81. 

mostly  of  similar  type,  80. 
pushing  by  advertising,  59. 
show  reports  on,  82. 
Vermin,  marauding,  242. 

Water,    continuous   supply   impera- 
tive, 241. 
swales  dangerous,  242. 


298 


INDEX 


Wealth,  poultry,  increasing,  112. 
Winds,  cause  of  colds,  260. 
Winners,  great,   and  layers,  not  all 

white,  33- 
Wyandotte: 

Black,  not  widely  bred,  27. 
Buff,  appearance,  28. 
eventual  rank,  28. 
laying  capacity,  27. 
leads  Wyandottes  in  laying,  59. 
vs.  Buff  Orpington,  59. 
Columbian,  good  winter  layer,  65. 
present  popularity,  28. 
prophecies  concerning,  28. 
rapid  advancement,  28. 
selection  must  improve,  29. 
vs.  Barred  Rock,  29. 


Wyandotte: 

Golden,  a  beauty  bird,  26. 

origin  of,  23. 

original  type  of,  24. 

Partridge,  difficult  to  breed,  26. 

Silver,  competition  honors,  25,  26. 

honor  due  to,  24. 

most  valuable  descendant  of,  24. 

refused  Standard  admittance,  23, 

the  breed  progenitor,  24. 
White,  a  bird  of  curves,  25. 

egg  record,  25. 

is  improvement  possible  ?  78. 

near  American  ideal,  76. 

shortening  body  of,  25. 

Yankee,  on  trial,  no. 


'T^ 


E  following  pages  are  advertisements  of  other  volumes  in 
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The  Modern  Fiction  Library 

A  new  and  important  series  of  some  of  the  best  popular  novels 
which  have  been  published  in  recent  years. 

These  successful  books  are  now  made  available  at  a  popular  price 
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The  authors  include  such  well-known  names  as : 

JACK  LONDON  JAMES  LANE  ALLEN 

ROBERT  HERRICK  WILLIAM  STEARNS  DAVIS 

H.  G.  WELLS  E.  V.  LUCAS 

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Burning  Daylight 

By  JACK  LONDON 

"  Burning  Daylight "  is  just  the  kind  of  a  story  that  Jack  Lon- 
don loves  to  write  —  the  story  of  the  struggles  of  a  strong  man 
in  a  world  of  strong  men.  Moreover,  it  is  a  story  which  he  has 
written  purely  for  the  story's  sake  —  he  does  not  preach  any- 
thing in  it.  This  fact  will  make  it  appeal  to  those  who  dislike 
to  have  their  socialism,  or  whatever  it  may  be,  mixed  up  with 
their  fiction.  "Jack  London,"  The  Springfield  Union  writes, 
"  has  outdone  himself  in  '  Burning  Daylight.1 "  The  book  gets 
its  title  from  the  hero  who  is  nicknamed  "  Burning  Daylight " 
because  it  was  his  custom  at  the  first  intimation  of  daylight  to 
rout  out  his  companions  for  the  day's  work,  so  there  would  be 
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daylight. 

The  Reign  Of  Law        A  Tale  of  the  Kentucky  Hempfields 

By  JAMES  LANE  ALLEN 

"Mr.  Allen  has  a  style  as  original  and  almost  as  perfectly  fin- 
ished as  Hawthorne's,  and  he  has  also  Hawthorne's  fondness  for 
spiritual  suggestions  that  make  all  his  stories  rich  in  the  quali- 
ties that  are  lacking  in  so  many  novels  of  the  period.1'  —  San 
Francisco  Chronicle. 

5 


THE  MODERN  FICTION  LIBRARY  —  Continued 


Kings  in  Exile 

By  CHARLES  G.  D.  ROBERTS 

" '  Kings  in  Exile,'  a  book  of  animal  stories  by  Charles  G.  D. 
Roberts,  is  a  series  of  unusually  fascinating  tales  of  the  sea  and 
woods.  The  author  catches  the  spirit  of  forest  and  sea  life,  and 
the  reader  comes  to  have  a  personal  love  and  knowledge  of  our 
animal  relations."  —  Boston  Globe. 

A  Kentucky  Cardinal 

By  JAMES  LANE  ALLEN 

"  A  narrative,  told  with  naive  simplicity  in  the  first  person,  of 
how  a  man  who  was  devoted  to  his  fruits  and  flowers  and  birds 
came  to  fall  in  love  with  a  fair  neighbor,  who  treated  him  at  first 
with  whimsical  raillery  and  coquetry,  and  who  finally  put  his 
love  to  the  supreme  test." — New  York  Tribune. 

Elizabeth  and  her  German  Garden 

"  It  is  full  of  nature  in  many  phases  —  of  breeze  and  sunshine, 
of  the  glory  of  the  land,  and  the  sheer  joy  of  living.  Merry  and 
wise,  clever  and  lovable,  as  polished  as  it  is  easy  ...  a  book 
for  frequent  reading  as  for  wholesome  enjoyment" — New  York 
Times. 

The  Colonel's  Story 

By  Mrs.  ROGER  A.  PRYOR 

In  this  novel,  Mrs.  Pryor,  well  known  and  loved  for  her  charm- 
ing reminiscences  and  books  about  the  old  South,  has  pictured 
life  in  Virginia  sixty  or  seventy  years  ago.  The  story  she  has 
told  is  one  in  which  the  spirit  of  the  times  figures  largely ;  ad- 
venture and  romance  have  their  play  and  carry  the  plot  to  a 
satisfying  end.  It  would  be  difficult,  indeed,  if  not  impossible, 
to  find  a  fitter  pen  to  portray  the  various  features  of  Virginia 
life  and  culture  than  Mrs.  Pryor,  who  is  "  to  the  manor  born," 
and  was  raised  amid  the  memories  of  a  past  where,  until  the 
war  for  Southern  independence,  families  retained  their  social 
standing  and  customs  from  generation  to  generation. 
4 


THE  MODERN  FICTION  LIBRARY  —  Continued 


A  Friend  of  Caesar 

By  WILLIAM  STEARNS  DAVIS 

"As  a  story  .  .  .  there  can  be  no  question  of  its  success.  .  .  . 
While  the  beautiful  love  of  Cornelia  and  Drusus  lies  at  the 
sound,  sweet  heart  of  the  story,  to  say  so  is  to  give  a  most 
meagre  idea  of  the  large  sustained  interest  of  the  whole.  .  .  . 
There  are  many  incidents  so  vivid,  so  brilliant,  that  they  fix 
themselves  in  the  memory."  .  .  .  —  NANCY  HUSTON  BANKS 
in  The  Bookman. 

Jim  Hands 

By  RICHARD  WASHBURN  CHILD 

"A  big,  simple,  leisurely  moving  chronicle  of  life.  The  one 
who  relates  it  is  Jim  Hands,  an  Irish-American,  patient,  honest, 
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'heady'  member  of  Jim's  excellent  family  is  the  daughter  Kath- 
erine,  whose  love  affair  with  the  boss's  son,  Robert,  is  tenderly 
and  delicately  imparted.  ...  A  story  study  of  character  in 
many  lights  and  shadows  .  .  .  touches  of  sublime  self-sacrifice 
and  telling  pictures  of  mutual  helpfulness  and  disinterested 
kindness.  ...  In  its  frequent  digressions,  in  its  shrewd  ob- 
servations of  life,  in  its  genuine  humor  and  large  outlook  reveals 
a  personality  which  commands  the  profoundest  respect  and  ad- 
miration. Jim  is  a  real  man,  sound  and  fine."  —  Daily  News. 

A  Dark  Lantern 

By  ELIZABETH  ROBINS 

A  powerful  and  striking  novel,  English  in  scene,  which  takes  an 
essentially  modern  view  of  society  and  of  certain  dramatic  situ- 
ations. The  "  Dark  Lantern  "  is  a  brusque,  saturnine,  strong- 
willed  doctor,  who  makes  wonderful  cures,  bullies  his  patients, 
and  is  hated  and  sought  after.  The  book  has  the  absorbing 
interest  of  a  strong  and  moving  story,  varied  in  its  scenes  and 
characters,  and  sustained  throughout  on  high  spiritual,  intel- 
lectual, and  emotional  planes. 
5 


THE  MODERN  FICTION  LIBRARY  —  Continued 


The  Wheels  of  Chance 

By  H.  G.  WELLS 

"  Mr.  Wells  is  beyond  question  the  most  plausible  romancer  of 
the  time.  ...  He  unfolds  a  breathlessly  interesting  story  of 
battle  and  adventure,  but  all  the  time  he  is  thinking  of  what  our 
vaunted  strides  in  mechanical  invention  may  come  to  mean. 
.  .  .  Again  and  again  the  story,  absorbing  as  it  is,  brings  the 
reader  to  a  reflective  pause."  ...  —  The  New  York  Tribune, 

The  Common  Lot 

By  ROBERT  HERRICK 

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and  twisted  by  sordid  commercial  strife  until  "the  spirit  of 
greed  has  eaten  him  through  and  through."  Then  comes  the 
revelation  of  himself,  —  in  a  disaster  due  in  part  to  his  own 
connivance  in  "graft,"  —  and  his  gradual  regeneration.  The  in- 
fluence of  his  wife's  standards  on  his  own  and  on  their  family  life 
is  finely  brought  out.  It  is  an  unusual  novel  of  great  interest. 

Mr.  Ingle  side 

By  E.  V.  LUCAS 

Mr.  E.  V.  Lucas  early  achieved  enviable  fame  and  became  well 
known  as  the  clever  author  of  delightful  books  of  travel,  and 
charming  anthologies  of  prose  and  verse. 

When  "Over  Bemerton's,"  his  first  novel,  was  published,  his 
versatility  and  charm  as  a  writer  of  fiction  stood  fully  revealed. 
He  displayed  himself  as  an  intellectual  and  amusing  observer  of 
life's  foibles  with  a  hero  characterized,  says  the  Independent,  by 
u  inimitable  kindness  and  humor." 

In  "  Mr.  Ingleside "  he  has  again  written  a  story  of  high  ex- 
cellence, individual  and  entertaining.  With  its  quiet  calm 
reflection,  its  humorous  interpretation  of  life  and  its  delightful 
situations  and  scenes  it  reminds  one  of  the  literary  excursions 
and  charms  of  the  leaders  of  the  early  Victorian  era. 
6 


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Notable  Additions  to  the  Macmillan  Standard  Library 


Bailey,  L.  H. 

THE  COUNTRY  LIFE  MOVEMENT  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES 
"...  clearly  thought  out,  admirably  written,  and  always  stimulating  in 
its  generalization  and  in  the  perspectives  it  opens."  —  Philadelphia  Press. 
"  Concise  and  straightforward  to  the  point  of  bareness  in  its  presentation 
of  facts,  arguments,  and  plans,  its  every  sentence  is  packed  so  full  of  what 
the  author  thinks,  knows,  and  hopes  of  the  condition,  prospects,  and  possi- 
bilities of  rural  life,  that  the  volume  comes  as  near  to  being  solid  meat  as 
any  book  can  come."  —  New  York  Times. 

Conyngton,  Mary 

HOW  TO  HELP :     A  MANUAL  OF  PRACTICAL  CHARITY 

"  It  is  an  exceedingly  comprehensive  work,  and  its  chapters  on  the  home- 
less man  and  woman,  its  care  of  needy  families,  and  the  discussion  of  the 
problems  of  child  labor  will  prove  of  value  to  the  philanthropic  worker." 

French,  Allen 

HOW  TO  GROW  VEGETABLES 

"  It  is  particularly  valuable  to  a  beginner  in  vegetable  gardening,  giving 
not  only  a  convenient  and  reliable  planting-table,  but  giving  particular 
attention  to  the  culture  of  the  vegetables."  —  Suburban  Life. 

Hapgood,  Norman 

LINCOLN,  ABRAHAM,  THE  MAN  OF  THE  PEOPLE 

"  A  life  of  Lincoln  that  has  never  been  surpassed  in  vividness,  compact- 
ness, and  lifelike  reality."  —  Chicago  Tribune. 

"  Mr.  Hapgood  is  not  depicting  a  mere  model  here,  but  a  living,  awk- 
ward, fallible,  steadfast,  noble  man."  —  Boston  Globe. 
7 


THE  MACMILLAN   STANDARD   LIBRARY  —  Continued 


Hearn,  Lafcadio 

JAPAN :  AN  ATTEMPT  AT  INTERPRETATION 

"  A  thousand  books  have  been  written  about  Japan,  but  this  one  is 
one  of  the  rarely  precious  volumes  which  opens  the  door  to  an  intimate 
acquaintance  with  the  wonderful  people  who  command  the  attention  of 
the  world  to-day."  —  Boston  Herald. 

Lyon,  D.  Everett 

HOW  TO  KEEP  BEES  FOR  PROFIT 

"  A  book  which  gives  an  insight  into  the  life  history  of  the  bee  family, 
pointing  out  the  various  methods  by  which  bee-keeping  may  be  made  of 
increased  interest  and  profit,  as  well  as  telling  the  novice  how  to  start  an 
apiary  and  care  for  it."  —  Country  Life  in  America. 

McLennan,  John 

A  MANUAL  OF  PRACTICAL  FARMING 

"  No  better  adjective  can  be  used  in  describing  this  book  than  the  one 
included  in  the  title  "  practical,"  for  the  author  has  placed  before  the 
reader  in  the  simplest  terms  a  means  of  assistance  in  the  ordinary  problems 
of  farming."  —  National  Nurseryman. 

Mathews,  Shailer 

THE  CHURCH  AND  THE  CHANGING  ORDER 
"The  book  throughout  is  characterized  by  good  sense  and  restraint. 
...    A  notable  book  and  one  that  every  Christian  may  read  with  profit." 
—  The  Living  Church. 

St.  Maur,  Kate  V. 

A  SELF-SUPPORTING  HOME 

"  Each  chapter  is  the  detailed  account  of  all  the  work  necessary  for  one 
month  —  in  the  vegetable  garden,  among  the  small  fruits,  with  the  fowls, 
guineas,  rabbits,  caries,  and  in  every  branch  of  husbandry  to  be  met  with 
on  the  small  farm.  —  Louisville  Courier-Journal. 

Valentine,  C.  S. 

HOW  TO  KEEP  HENS  FOR  PROFIT 

"  Those  who  have  been  looking  for  the  reason  why  their  poultry  ven- 
tures were  not  yielding  a  fair  profit,  those  who  are  just  starting  in  the 
poultry  business,  and  seasoned  poultrymen  will  all  find  in  it  much  of 
value."  —  Chicago  Tribune. 

8 


Other  Volumes  in  the  Macmillan  Standard  Library 


Addams,  Jane 

THE  SPIRIT  OF  YOUTH  AND  THE  CITY  STREETS1 

"  Shows  such  sanity,  such  breadth  and  tolerance  of  mind,  and  such  pene- 
tration into  the  inner  meanings  of  outward  phenomena  as  to  make  it  a 
book  which  no  one  can  afford  to  miss.  —  New  York  Times. 

Campbell,  R.  J. 

THE  NEW  THEOLOGY 

"  A  fine  contribution  to  the  better  thought  of  our  times  and  written  in 
the  spirit  of  the  Master."  —  Si.  Paul  Dispatch. 

Clark,  T.  M. 

THE  CARE  OF  A  HOUSE 

"  If  the  average  man  knew  one-tenth  of  what  Mr.  Clark  tells  him  in 
this  book,  he  would  be  able  to  save  money  every  year  on  repairs,  etc."  — 
Chicago  Tribune. 

Coolidge,  Archibald  Gary 

THE  UNITED  STATES  AS  A  WORLD  POWER 

"Justly  entitled  to  recognition  as  a  work  of  real  distinction  ...  it 
moves  the  reader  to  thought."  —  Nation. 

Croly,  Herbert 

THE  PROMISE  OF  AMERICAN  LIFE 

"The  most  profound  and  illuminating  study  of  our  national  conditions 
which  has  appeared  in  many  years.  —  Theodore  Roosevelt. 

Ely,  Richard  T. 

MONOPOLIES  AND  TRUSTS 

"  The  evils  of  monopoly  are  plainly  stated  and  remedies  are  proposed. 
This  book  should  be  a  help  to  every  man  in  active  business  life." — Balti- 
more Sun. 

Haultain,  Arnold 

THE  MYSTERY  OF  GOLF 

"It  is  more  than  a  golf  book.     There  is  interwoven  with  it  a  play  of 
mild  philosophy  and  of  pointed  wit."  —  Boston  Globe. 
9 


THE  MACMILLAN  STANDARD   LIBRARY  —  Continued 


Hillquit,  Morris 

SOCIALISM  IN  THEORY  AND  PRACTICE 

"An  interesting  historical  sketch  of  the  movement."  —  Newark  Evening 
News. 

Home,  C.  Silvester 

DAVID  LIVINGSTONE 

The  centenary  edition  of  this  popular  work.  A  clear,  simple,  narrative 
biography  of  the  great  missionary,  explorer,  and  scientist. 

Hunter,  Robert 

POVERTY 

"  Mr.  Hunter's  book  is  at  once  sympathetic  and  scientific.  He  brings 
to  the  task  a  store  of  practical  experience  in  settlement  work  gathered  in 
many  parts  of  the  country."  —  Boston  Transcript, 

SOCIALISTS  AT  WORK 

"  A  vivid,  running  characterization  of  the  foremost  personalities  in  the 
Socialist  movement  throughout  the  world."  —  Review  of  Reviews. 

King,  Henry  Churchill 

THE  ETHICS  OF  JESUS 

"  I  know  no  other  study  of  the  ethical  teaching  of  Jesus  so  scholarly, 
careful,  clear,  and  compact  as  this." —  G.  H,  Palmer  t  Harvard  Univer- 
sity. 

RATIONAL  LIVING 

"  An  able  conspectus  of  modern  psychological  investigation,  viewed  from 
the  Christian  standpoint."  —  Philadelphia  Public  Ledger. 

London,  Jack 

REVOLUTION,  AND  OTHER  ESSAYS 
THE  WAR  OF  THE  CLASSES 

"  Mr,  London's  book  is  thoroughly  interesting,  and  his  point  of  view  is 
very  different  from  that  of  the  closet  theorist."  —  Springfield  Repub- 
lican. 

10 


THE  MACMILLAN  STANDARD  LIBRARY— Continued 


Mabie,  Hamilton  W. 

WILLIAM  SHAKESPEARE :    POET,  DRAMATIST,  AND  MAN 

"It  is  rather  an  interpretation  than  a  record." —  Chicago  Standard. 

Mathews,  Shailer 

THE  GOSPEL  AND  THE  MODERN  MAN 

"A  succinct  statement  of  the  essentials  of  the  New  Testament."  — 
Service. 

Patten,  Simon  N. 

THE  SOCIAL  BASIS  OF  RELIGION 

"A  work-of  substantial  value." —  Continent. 

Peabody,  Francis  Greenwood 

THE  APPROACH  TO  THE  SOCIAL  QUESTION 

"This  book  is  at  once  the  most  delightful,  persuasive  and  sagacious 
contribution  to  the  subject.  —  Louisville  Courier-Journal 

Rauschenbusch,  Walter 

CHRISTIANITY  AND  THE  SOCIAL  CRISIS 

"  It  is  a  book  to  like,  to  learn  from,  and  to  be  charmed  with."  —  New 
York  Times. 

Riis,  Jacob 

THEODORE  ROOSEVELT,  THE  CITIZEN 

"  A  refreshing  and  stimulating  picture."  —  New  York  Tribune. 

Ryan,  (Rev.)  J.  A. 

A  LIVING  WAGE:    ITS  ETHICAL  AND  ECONOMIC  ASPECTS 
"The  most  judicious  and  balanced  discussion  at  the  disposal  of  the 

general  reader."  —  World  To-day. 

Sherman,  L.  A. 

WHAT  IS  SHAKESPEARE? 

"  Emphatically  a  work  without  which  the  library  of  the  Shakespeare 
student  will  be  incomplete."  —  Daily  Telegraph. 


THE  MACMILLAN  STANDARD  LIBRARY  —  Continued 

Sidgwick,  A. 

HOME  LIFE  IN  GERMANY 

Smith,  J.  Allen 

THE  SPIRIT  OF  AMERICAN  GOVERNMENT 

"  Not  since  Bryce's  '  American  Commonwealth '  has  a  book  been  pro- 
duced which  deals  so  searchingly  with  American  political  institutions  and 
their  history."  —  New  York  Evening  Telegram. 

Spargo,  John 

SOCIALISM 

"  One  of  the  ablest  expositions  of  Socialism  that  has  ever  been  written." 
—  New  York  Evening  Call. 

Van  Dyke,  Henry 

THE  GOSPEL  FOR  A  WORLD  OF  SIN 

"  One  of  the  basic  books  of  true  Christian  thought  of  to-day  and  of  all 
times."  —  Boston  Courier. 

THE  SPIRIT  OF  AMERICA 

"  In  this  work  the  fruit  of  years  of  application  and  reflection  is  clearly 
apparent;  it  is  undoubtedly  the  most  notable  interpretation  in  years  of 
the  real  America.  It  compares  favorably  with  Bryce's  '  American  Com- 
monwealth.' "  —Philadelphia  Press. 

Veblen,  Thorstein  B. 

THE  THEORY  OF  THE  LEISURE  CLASS 

"The  most  valuable  recent  contribution  to  the  elucidation  of  this 
theory."  —  London  Times. 

White,  William  Allen 

THE  OLD  ORDER  CHANGETH 

"  Mr.  White  tells  in  the  trained  words  of  an  observer  about  the  present 
status  of  society  in  America.  It  is  an  excellent  antidote  to  the  pessimism 
of  modern  writers  on  our  social  system."  —  Baltimore  Sun. 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

Publishers  64-66  Fifth  Avenue  New  York 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


JAN  2  1  1943" 
JUN  3     liSk 
9 

REC'O  ID-URL 


SEP  24  i97g 


FormL-9-15m-ll,'27 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

iiiiiiiiiilli 

A    001  107809    4 


